Vintage Zuni Fetishes of Wolf and Badger

Meet Agnes and Lucille two hand-carved Zuni fetishes that have become the best of friends despite their different personalities.

Agnes is a cantankerous old badger, and it's okay. She's witnessed a lot of trouble in her years, and it's reflected in her mood. Lucille is a cheery younger wolf out to change the world. They both share brilliant blue blue turquoise eyes from which they see life.

They also both have special status in the world of Zuni fetish animals, for each represents one of the Six cardinal directions. Agnes the badger presides over the South and Lucille the wolf presides over the East. This is serious work.

Agnes has spent her life nose to the ground, so she's learned all about the best plants to make healing medicine. She's bigger than Lucille and oh, so lovely with her luscious etched fur. Don't let her slightly downturned mouth lead you away. She's a faithful friend. She was carved by Kent Banteah and is signed on the reverse.

Lucille is loyal as can be to her family and her dear friends like Agnes. She has a beautiful, bushy tail and a big permanent smile that comes from a striation in the stone she's carved from. Her wolf body has the prettiest markings including a natural circle in the fur on her back.

Dimensions: Agnes measures 2 1/8" long x 1" wide and 1/2" tall. 

Lucille measures 1 3/4" long x 1/2" wide and 3/4" tall.

Provenance: Agnes and Lucille have lived together for many years. That's why they have such a strong friendship. 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. He 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.