This fabulous (not a word I often use) fetish bowl by Zuni artist lena Boone has been sold to an excited collector as part of our special April Foolishness sale.
It is six inches high and includes fetish carvings on four sides, an eagle fetish carving suspended across the top opening and a mole fetish carving within the bowl. Ground corn meal from Zuni was included to nourish the positive spirits of the carvings. It is covered with ground turquoise and includes a hole near the base on one side for the fetish inside to be fed. The faithful believe that an owner who cares for his or her fetish carving will receive good care and protection from the fetish carving in return.
The creatures around, over and in the bowl represent the six protective directional animals of Zuni cosmology: bear, mountain lion, wolf, badger, eagle and mole.
Lena Boone is a very popular and prolific carver. ZuniLink carries a lot of her fetish carvings. We had seen fetish bowls created by her but never owned one until, after a few complimentary comments in conversations with her about the subject, she surprised us with this one.
We were honored to get this bowl. We hope she will have another one for us before too much time goes by.
If you would like to see some of her fetish carving work (without a bowl), just click on the link above, scroll down the left side of the page and click on the link to her page. There's also a picture of Lena there.
If you are interested in other Native American Indian pottery, including other, smaller fetish bowls, keep an eye on Native-PotteryLink.com.
Thank you.
