Sculpture from the Collection of George Terasaki
New York
Sculpture from the Collection of George Terasaki 
Sale N10144
19 November 2019 | New York | full auction details
Selected Lots
Sotheby’s would like to thank Heinrich Schweizer and James Trotta-Bono for their support of this auction.
George Terasaki’s name is legendary in the field of Native American Art and is synonymous with artworks of great power and pedigree. The passion of Terasaki’s life was the relentless pursuit of beautiful objects and the elevation of artistic masterpieces from the indigenous cultures of North America. With a rigorous intellect and as an artist himself, Terasaki had a deep knowledge of the cultures he observed, and an impeccable eye for quality. The Terasaki Collection spans cultures from all over North America, centered on two landscapes: the Northwest Coast, and the Pueblos of the Southwest.
A rich range of objects from the Northwest Coast illustrate the diversity of styles and forms created by the people of that region during the 18th and 19th centuries, including a Tsimshian Portrait Mask of striking sensitivity and naturalism previously in the collection of the Heye Foundation in New York, an exquisite Tsimshian Raven Rattle, and a number of other important objects. From southern Alaska there is a dramatic and powerful Chugach mask which dates to the 18th Century or earlier. The collection also includes a remarkable group of kachina figures from the Hopi and Zuni people of the Southwest. Notable for their great age and quality, most of these kachinas were published in Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures (2006) and Kachina: George Terasaki Collection (2008).
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International Chairman
African & Oceanic Art
+44 (0)20 7293 5116
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Vice President
Head of Department
Art of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
+1 212 894 1312
Paul Lewis
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Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
+1 212 894 1312
Alexandra Olsman
Associate Specialist & Project Manager
Art of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
+1 212 894 1312
Gaia Lettere
Administrator
Art of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
+1 212 894 1312
all images © the gallery and the artist(s)
