The Wolf Family Collection of Native American Art to be Auctioned at Bonhams Los Angeles

Native American Art

28 Jun 2023

Los Angeles

A Maria Martinez & Popovi Da polychrome plate  

On June 28, Bonhams will present a wide range of material at its Native American Art sale in Los Angeles highlighted by 60 lots from the Wolf Family Collection. Throughout their nearly 70-year long marriage, Erving Wolf (1926-2018) and his wife Joyce (1927-2022) filled their Fifth Avenue New York City apartment with one of the most historically significant collections of American art and design. They were also major benefactors to several important institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. The sale will feature a selection of Indigenous weavings, jewelry, and pottery from their collection.

While growing up in contrasting parts of the country, Erving in Wyoming and Joyce in New York City, they both shared a deep passion for the West and American art. After being married in 1951, the couple settled in Cheyenne to raise their family and, in the 1960s after acquiring Native American jewelry, rugs, and pottery from trading posts in the Southwest United States, began building their art collection in earnest. Their efforts resulted in a collection which boasted more than 1,000 works spanning an impressive breadth of American fine and decorative arts from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Highlights of from the collection include:

• A Maria Martinez & Popovi Da polychrome plate, estimated at $6,000 – 9,000.

• A large Diné (Navajo) Two Grey Hills rug, estimated at $4,000 – 6,000.

• A Haida argillite figural carving depicting a shaman, estimated at $3,000 – 5,000.

• A large Virginia Ebelacker carved blackware jar, estimated at $3,000 – 5,000.

• Two Preston Monongye cuff bracelets, each estimated at $3,000 – 5,000.

• An exceptionally large Zuni squash blossom necklace, estimated at $2,000 – 3,000.