Zuni Sitting Bear Fetish Carving Grumpy Grandpa

This hand carved Zuni fetish depicts a big travertine bear sitting up on his heavy haunches. He's wearing a coral necklace and carrying a big carved turquoise arrow head on his back which gives him power and strengthening of prayers.

His inlaid turquoise beady eyes coupled with his incised expression make him look like a grumpy grandpa bear. Perhaps he's grumpy because the world he sees today through those turquoise eyes isn't exactly what it used to be. Though he's powerful and fierce, bears of his generation admire integrity, humility, and strong character. 

Grandpa bear fetish is meant to bestow courage and strength, and he knows that these blessings are necessary to make it through these challenging times. He's also the guardian of the West, one of the SIX cardinal directions, and he still takes his job very seriously.

Dimensions: He sits 2 1/4" tall and his grumpy bear bottom measures 1 1/4" wide x 1 1/2" deep. 

Artist: Grandpa is signed FM on the reverse. This could be Felissa Martin or Florentino Martinez.

Provenance: He was purchased more than a decade ago, possibly a few decades ago by 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.