New for Indian Market at Toh-Atin Gallery’s show this Week!

We are loading the vans, packing the rugs and getting ready to take off for Santa Fe in a few days and we have some great Navajo weavings to share with you.

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Old Rugs (Almost) Never Die!

Monday, August 14, 2017 8:12 AM

Old Rugs (Almost) Never Die!

Those of you know me or read this blog regularly, know that I never met a Navajo Rug that I didn't like. Sure, some are more favorite than others, but there is always something to find in a rug that you can like and admire.


So what happens when a weaving is damaged or suffers a color run? What if your dog chews off the corner or your best friend (because you would never) drops a glass of red wine or coffee on your favorite weaving?

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Rocks, Gems, Fossils, Jewelry and more in Denver this weekend!

Many of our customers have been to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show during the winter. It's a huge show that takes up the entire city. It's become so big and so spread out that it is really overwhelming.

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This Silversmith Does It All!

Friday, September 8, 2017 3:24 PM

This Silversmith Does It All!

The Fall Gallery Walk was founded in 1983 by the four original members of the Durango Gallery Association. Toh-Atin Gallery is the last one standing of the original group and we are happy that the Gallery Association continues to grow in both numbers and quality.

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You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 8:58 AM

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

In 1973, I was driving our company vehicle, a Dodge Maxi-Van, on a trip through Colorado to sell jewelry and rugs to some of the stores in the Estes Park and Denver areas.

We were doing business out of the front of my Dad’s Pepsi plant in Durango. At the time, you could never have called us an “upscale” establishment, but we had great rugs and jewelry and people seemed to find us.

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Peter Ray James Returns to Painting

Tuesday, November 7, 2017 6:47 AM

Peter Ray James Returns to Painting

We met Peter Ray James nearly thirty years ago. Not only is he an incredibly talented artist, he is an amazing human being, always reaching out to help other people.

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Works by Fritz Scholder, American Artist (1937 - 2005)

Thursday, November 9, 2017 4:31 PM

Works by Fritz Scholder, American Artist (1937 - 2005)

Fritz Scholder occupies a unique spot in Native American Art. Many times during his career, he claimed that he was not an Indian, but the works that initially brought him to fame were a series on Native Americans.


He shocked the Native American art market with his paintings of Indians with beer cans, American Flags and some other wild stuff.

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In 1938 Sallie Lippincott Moved to the Navajo Reservation. She Left her Mark!

And she left a small collection of Indian Jewelry you might like!

Sallie was from Wheeling, West Virginia and was part of a steel mill family. She was a debutante and was raised with every advantage. She attended the University of Chicago, unusual for a woman in that day, and when she graduated, she moved to the Wide Ruins Trading Post in Arizona with her husband Bill Wagner.

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Navajo Folk Artist Delbert Buck--He'll Make You Smile!

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 7:31 AM

Navajo Folk Artist Delbert Buck--He'll Make You Smile!

In 1983, when we first moved into our “new” gallery space, we were approached by several Navajo artists selling “Folk Art.” At the time, I was not real interested in it.

Bad mistake! What I didn’t realize was that these artists were really on the cutting edge of a new trend in Native American art.

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Blue Corn and My First Experience with Pueblo Pottery

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 11:56 AM

Blue Corn and My First Experience with Pueblo Pottery

In the early 1970s, I was traveling around the West selling Navajo rugs and Indian jewelry to Indian theme shops, museum stores and National Park outlets.

Several customers in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado asked me if I could obtain Pueblo pottery for them. It was becoming more popular and there was a boom in anything Native American.

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New Old-Style Katsina Dolls by Chester Poleyestewa

Some years ago, the Hopi Tribal Council decided that the dolls that were called Kachinas should be given their traditional Hopi name of Katsinas.


What I have found is that most carvers still use the term Kachina, and we often do as well. There is no disrespect intended and we try to use whatever the carver prefers. In this writing I will probably go back and forth.

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More on J.B. Moore and his Disappearance

Monday, April 30, 2018 8:30 AM

More on J.B. Moore and his Disappearance

After our email last week where I stated that J.B. Moore sold the Crystal Trading Post in 1911 and disappeared, possibly as the result of a scandal, I received a couple of emails. This one is from Mike Ryan, co-author of “The Great American Turquoise Rush 1890-1910.

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