Vintage Zuni Dog Fetish Carving of Turquoise

This vintage, hand carved Zuni dog fetish is one of the teeniest fetishes around. Somehow despite an itty bitty size, this good boy fetish still has the sweetest details like an expressive snout, a perfect tail, wee toes, and dangling ears.

He goes by the name Burl, and he's made of lovely green turquoise. 

Dogs like Burl aren't exactly a traditional Zuni fetish imbued with power and strength, but that's okay. He's made simply for joy and delight, much like your own furry family companion.

Dimensions: Burl measures just 1/2" tall x only 3/8" wide if you measure all the way to the tip of his tail.

Provenance: Just whose skillful hands created tiny Burl we no longer know, but we do know that Burl comes from the Native American art and jewelry 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.

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. 

Did Burl represent one of her own beloved dogs? Seems very likely. Now maybe Burl's tiny likeness will remind you of one of yours.