Edward S. Curtis, The Piki Maker - Walpi, 1906
Edward S. Curtis
1868 - 1952
The Piki Maker - Walpi, 1906
orotone (vintage goldtone on glass)
signed in the negative lower right: Curtis
original Curtis Studio label on verso
set in an original Curtis Studios batwing frame
negative date: 1906
print date: ca. 1906
This classic Curtis photograph of a Hopi woman making traditional flat bread, piki, was one of Curtis’ favorites, as he printed it in numerous photographic processes. Piki is cornbread baked in colored sheets of paper-like thinness. The batter is spread on the baking-stone with the bare hand, and the quickly baked sheet is folded and laid on the basket at the baker’s left.
14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm.), frame: 19 x 16 x 1 5/8 in. (48.3 x 40.6 x 4.1 cm.)
Korwin and Karol King Collection
Private Collection, Canada
Literature:
The North American Indian (1907-1930), Portfolio 12, pl. 432
Native Nations, Bulfinch Press, 1993, p. 117
Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Simon & Schuster, 2000, p. 86
Edward S. Curtis: The Women, Bulfinch Press, 2005, p. 9, 88
Edward S. Curtis One Hundred Masterworks, Delmonico Books/Prestel Publishing, 2015, p. 89
A hallmark of his studio, Curtis pioneered and popularized the rarely used goldtone process shortly after 1900, producing fewer than one print for every 500 negatives due to the costly and challenging nature of the process. Despite its rarity, it seems to have been his favorite medium, writing in his studio’s Goldtone Promotional Brochure:
“The ordinary photographic print, however good, lacks depth and transparency, or more strictly speaking, translucency. We all know how beautiful are the stones and pebbles in the limpid brook of the forest where the water absorbs the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage, yet when we take the same iridescent pebbles from the water and dry them they are dull and lifeless, so it is with the orthodox photographic print, but in the [goldtone] all the transparency is retained and they are as full of life and sparkle as an opal.”
Edward S. Curtis was an American photographer, ethnographer, and publisher best known for his ambitious lifelong project documenting Indigenous peoples of North America. Working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he produced thousands of photographs as well as audio recordings, notes, and texts that culminated in the monumental publication The North American Indian (1907–1930). Curtis is especially admired for the striking beauty of his photogravures, platinum prints, and goldtones. Today, he remains one of the most recognized and influential figures in the history of American photography.
Condition
A condition report for this lot is available upon request (please include the lot number in your request) and is provided by Santa Fe Art Auction as a courtesy and convenience for potential buyers.
Edward S. Curtis
1868 - 1952
The Piki Maker - Walpi, 1906
orotone (vintage goldtone on glass)
signed in the negative lower right: Curtis
original Curtis Studio label on verso
set in an original Curtis Studios batwing frame
negative date: 1906
print date: ca. 1906
This classic Curtis photograph of a Hopi woman making traditional flat bread, piki, was one of Curtis’ favorites, as he printed it in numerous photographic processes. Piki is cornbread baked in colored sheets of paper-like thinness. The batter is spread on the baking-stone with the bare hand, and the quickly baked sheet is folded and laid on the basket at the baker’s left.
14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm.), frame: 19 x 16 x 1 5/8 in. (48.3 x 40.6 x 4.1 cm.)
Korwin and Karol King Collection
Private Collection, Canada
Literature:
The North American Indian (1907-1930), Portfolio 12, pl. 432
Native Nations, Bulfinch Press, 1993, p. 117
Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Simon & Schuster, 2000, p. 86
Edward S. Curtis: The Women, Bulfinch Press, 2005, p. 9, 88
Edward S. Curtis One Hundred Masterworks, Delmonico Books/Prestel Publishing, 2015, p. 89
A hallmark of his studio, Curtis pioneered and popularized the rarely used goldtone process shortly after 1900, producing fewer than one print for every 500 negatives due to the costly and challenging nature of the process. Despite its rarity, it seems to have been his favorite medium, writing in his studio’s Goldtone Promotional Brochure:
“The ordinary photographic print, however good, lacks depth and transparency, or more strictly speaking, translucency. We all know how beautiful are the stones and pebbles in the limpid brook of the forest where the water absorbs the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage, yet when we take the same iridescent pebbles from the water and dry them they are dull and lifeless, so it is with the orthodox photographic print, but in the [goldtone] all the transparency is retained and they are as full of life and sparkle as an opal.”
Edward S. Curtis was an American photographer, ethnographer, and publisher best known for his ambitious lifelong project documenting Indigenous peoples of North America. Working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he produced thousands of photographs as well as audio recordings, notes, and texts that culminated in the monumental publication The North American Indian (1907–1930). Curtis is especially admired for the striking beauty of his photogravures, platinum prints, and goldtones. Today, he remains one of the most recognized and influential figures in the history of American photography.
Condition
A condition report for this lot is available upon request (please include the lot number in your request) and is provided by Santa Fe Art Auction as a courtesy and convenience for potential buyers.
