Details
Description
One of the signature plates of the early volumes of The North American Indian, this photogravure depicts a traditional Akimel …
Read more
One of the signature plates of the early volumes of The North American Indian, this photogravure depicts a traditional Akimel O'odham (Pima) house in the Gila River valley of Arizona, photographed in 1907 and published in Volume II, the installment devoted to the Pima, Mohave, Yuma, and neighboring peoples of the desert Southwest.
The structure is the ki, the classic round house of the River People: a dome of bent poles thatched with arrowweed and banked with earth, cool against the desert heat and low against the wind. Curtis composed it as a still life of daily life, with a monumental coiled storage basket at the doorway, ollas and gourds beside it, grinding stones in the foreground, and the desert ranges floating beyond. It is both careful architectural documentation and a genuinely beautiful photograph, rendered in the velvety continuous tone that only hand-pulled gravure achieves. The arrowweed thatching the house is the very material being cut in Curtis's companion plate from this volume, Gathering Arrow-Brush - Pima, listed separately in our shop; the two make a natural pair.
This impression is from the deluxe tissue edition of the original 1907-1930 publication: printed on translucent Japanese gampi tissue and mounted, as issued, to its Holland Van Gelder support leaf (chine-collé), per Cardozo Collection and Santa Fe Art Auction cataloging. The tissue issue was the most expensive format offered to original subscribers, priced at $3,750 per set against $3,000 for the standard papers, and Santa Fe Art Auction's own cataloging estimates that fewer than 15 subscriber sets were printed on tissue. This is not a 1970s-era restrike; restrikes were printed on modern papers such as Arches and Rives BFK.
Provenance is the strongest available in the Curtis market: the Christopher G. Cardozo Collection. Cardozo (1948-2021) was the foremost Curtis collector, dealer, and scholar of his generation, author of Sacred Legacy and numerous standard tegerences. This leaf retains its Cardozo inventory number and volume notation in pencil on the verso, along with the collection's cataloging label recording the tissue paper.
See less
- Dimensions
- 12.5ʺW × 0.01ʺD × 9.5ʺH
- Styles
- Native American
- Frame Type
- Unframed
- Art Subjects
- Landscape
- Period
- 1900 - 1909
- Country of Origin
- United States
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
- Materials
- Paper
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections
- Color
- Tan
- Condition Notes
- Good vintage condition for a volume leaf. A rich, evenly inked impression with a clear plate mark. The gampi tissue … moreGood vintage condition for a volume leaf. A rich, evenly inked impression with a clear plate mark. The gampi tissue is well adhered to its Van Gelder support leaf as issued, with the light surface undulation inherent to mounted tissue. A row of small binding holes runs along the bottom sheet edge from the leaf's removal from a bound deluxe volume; these sit well away from the image and disappear under a standard mat. Light, even age tone with a few pinpoint paper flecks in the margins and image, inherent to the handmade papers. No tears, no foxing, no repairs noted. Verso bears the Cardozo Collection inventory number "CCI 4875" and volume notation "V2" in pencil, disclosed for completeness. Housed in an archival sleeve. less
Questions about the item?
Returns & Cancellations
Return Policy - All sales are final 48 hours after delivery, unless otherwise specified in the description of the product.
Cancellation Policy - Prior to shipping or local pickup, buyers may cancel an order for up to 48 hours, unless otherwise specified.