So my artist friend Dennis has had this 8’ tall totem pole propped by his fireplace as long as I’ve known him. When he began the estate sale process a couple of months ago the sale lady said she wouldn’t touch the totem, that she was not an Indian artifact specialist. So of course Dennis called me. When I asked him where he got it, did he have a receipt, did he have a certificate of authenticity, he just smiled and said he stole it. Truth be told he owned an international company that dealt in air conditioning parts and he loved to barter. He was a master at bartering too, we loved to listen to his bartering stories. I contacted Heritage Auction House here, sent photos, measured, looked for the artist’s signature, filled out all the paperwork, etc., and they said they weren’t interested “at this time”. That told me the totem business in America is soft. Now I’m looking for an appraiser who can go to Dennis’ house and appraise it. With appraisal in hand we will contact some art galleries in New Mexico. This is the top half of the totem, I thought it qualified for the textures and patterns this week on FoR.
Great story , and an interesting item for the b/w texture and pattern challenge . You will have to let us know what will eventually happen to the totem pole !
That is a really interesting piece, I like the way its painted and I got a good laugh at the story and he said he stole it! LOL!! I'm sure hes bartered for some pretty interesting things over the years. I'm surprised he's willing to part with it!
I am sure he has ended up with some very interesting things in his bartering. This is really pretty. It will be interesting to see the appraisal on it.
Agreed. It totally qualifies. It looks really cool. I hope you’ll get to share the whole piece, though it’s large. He sounds more enchanting with every snippet you’re able to share.