NATIVE AMERICAN ZUNI ORTHOCERAS FROG FETISH BY BERNARD LAIWAKETE

Description

NATIVE AMERICAN
ZUNI ORTHOCERAS FROG FETISH BY BERNARD LAIWAKETE
In prehistoric times, frog carvings appeared in jewelry.  Zuni frog fetishes are associated with rain, abundance, and fertility.  Zuni fetish carver Bernard Laiwakete hand crafted this marvelous frog out of Orthoceras and his eyes and spots are made out of Turquoise.  Signed.
3/4″ tall x 3  5/8” long x 2  1/2” wide
Artist card included
Orthoceras was a straight shelled nautiloid that lived during the Paleozoic Era. The name means straight horn, ortho=straight ceras= horn. It is this long conical shell that is commonly preserved as a fossil.
Zuni fetishes are carvings made from various materials by the Zuni people.  Traditionally, fetishes served a ceremonial purpose for their creators and they represented animals and figures that were part of their culture.  Today, as a form of Native American Art, they are sold to collectors worldwide.  With a myriad of materials like turquoise, shell, jet, marble, serpentine, and much more, Zuni fetish carvers are able to create carvings in a style of their own.
Native American Art