Vintage Jayne Quam Wolf Fetish Pair

One of my very favorite fetish carvings is this vintage pair of wolves by Jayne Quam.

Jayne Quam has been carving animal fetishes for 45 years! That's a lot of heart and soul imbued into these animals.

Jayne is married to Lynn Quam, son of the celebrated Zuni jeweler and carver Annie Gasper Quam. Jayne learned the artistry of fetish carving after assisting her husband with sanding and inlay. 

She's best known for her elegant animal fetish doubles, most notably her wolves, like this enchanting pair.

These two are vintage wolves hand carved by Jayne Quam of picasso marble. Though their elongated bodies are created from the same stone, carefully planned variations in the stone create different colors and patterns in the body of each wolf. Almost like a piece of modernist sculpture, the carved foxes are sleek and expressive, wrapped together in a single simple medicine bundle of heishi beads and a turquoise stone. Their eyes are inlaid with turquoise and their heads are gently turned together in a concurrent gaze. 

Their parallel bodies gently bound together stand firm as soul mates moving through life's long distances. As wolf fetishes, the pair are highly regarded by Zuni people. They're guardians of the East, one of the SIX cardinal Zuni directions. They represent loyalty and family as well as wisdom. 

The two together are just made for a loving couple to signify their bond. Wouldn't they make a unique and meaningful wedding or anniversary gift? In fact, they'd even be a touching memorial.

These precious creatures measure 3 1/2" long x 1 1/8" wide. They're 3/4" tall and are signed on the reverse.

Provenance: They come from the collection of a beautiful woman who grew up in Germany during World War II. Post war, she moved to the United States and became a model in New York City. She eventually married, left her modeling career, and moved to El Paso with her husband. In El Paso, she first experienced the charm of Native American art and jewelry. 

Many years later, she attended her first of several celebrated Native American art field trips hosted by Martha Struever. During this time, she expanded her collection of Native American art and jewelry. Her collection wasn't vast, but it was extremely meaningful to her.

She never had children, but she collected quite a few corn maiden fetish figures showing her appreciation of the divine feminine.

After a long and full life, this dear woman recently passed away. She knew that her collection which she lovingly called her "treasures" was to be handled by Turquoise & Tufa, and she expressed her wishes that these dear fetishes would bring as much joy to us as they did to her.