Joseph Lonewolf Bronze titled “Eagle Dancers” [SOLD]

This bronze sculpture was created by Joseph Lonewolf, a Santa Clara artist who is recognized most often for his intricately carved pottery. Lonewolf began making bronzes in 1974, and he was likely one of the first pueblo potters to do so. By this time, his pottery sales were quite successful, and he achieved similar success with his bronzes. "Eagle Dancers" was completed in 1978 in an edition of 16.

A large pueblo drum is turned on its side, serving as the platform upon which two Eagle Dancers perform their ceremony. A flute player is perched nearby on the edge of the drum, leaning back, and pointing his flute toward the sky. Lonewolf's well-documented skill with precisely carved figures translates well to the bronze medium; the figures here are small but detailed and their movements feel natural. Both figures—the Eagle Dancer and the flute player—were depicted on Lonewolf's pottery as well.

The side of the piece is signed Joseph Lonewolf, dated 1978, and numbered 10/16.

Joseph Lonewolf (1932 - 2014) was an artist from Santa Clara Pueblo. Lonewolf was a nephew of Margaret Tafoya. He started a career as a mechanic and then became a trained machinist, making precision parts with fine engraving. It was this skill that he transferred from mechanical objects to precision-carved pottery. In 1971, Lonewolf returned to Santa Clara Pueblo and put his skills to making pottery as had been taught to him by his mother, Agapita Silva Tafoya. His father, Camilio Tafoya, had taken him as a child into the mountains where he witnessed petroglyphs carved into caves and on walls of cliffs. Lonewolf took the lessons of his mother and field trips with his father and combined the two to arrive at intricately carved designs on pottery.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Joseph Lonewolf Bronze titled "Eagle Dancers" is from a private Santa Fe collection

Reference: The Pottery Jewels of Joseph Lonewolf by Jon Young. 1975 Dandick Publications

TAGS: Margaret Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo, pottery, Agapita Silva Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, Rick Dillingham, Southwest Indian Jewelry, Joseph Lonewolf