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- 22-1496 Zuni Blacktail Deer Antler Jackalope by Maxx Laate
22-1496 Zuni Blacktail Deer Antler Jackalope by Maxx Laate
late 20th century
2 3/4" h; Polished Antler
Signed
Hands Down the best one I've seen!
From a Private Colorado Collection
Along with his deceased bother Pernell, Maxx Laate launched and nurtured a ‘school’ of Zuni fetish carving in the early 80s. Using mostly deer antler, but also fossilized walrus teeth when available, he focused on fine detail. Maxx sharpened his techniques, often carving miniatures. His awareness of subject matter is apparent.
Maxx and Pernell fostered their ideas and techniques among a large number of nephews and their friends. Maxx will accept any challenge to create any image. Working with the precision of a watchmaker, he adds intensity, motion and gracefulness to his carvings. His images of North American game animals show keen detail from his personal observations. Early on, he successfully tackled Africa game animals. Some of his recent carvings are of spiders, fish, lobsters and also just heads of animals or birds. Watching Maxx begin a carving: He carefully examines a small section of antler to see what spirits might be unlocked. He then proceeds to release the spirit into a provocative, well-balanced creation. For special requests, he will search through his antler stack for the ideal piece to carve. He currently works along side his older brother Willard, in a small outdoor studio amidst the family enclave at the foot of towering sacred Dowallene Mountain
Excellent Condition
From Wikipedia:
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word jackalope is a portmanteau of jackrabbit and antelope. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, are made with deer antlers.
In the 1930s, Douglas Herrick and his brother, hunters with taxidermy skills, popularized the American jackalope by grafting deer antlers onto a jackrabbit carcass and selling the combination to a local hotel in Douglas, Wyoming. Thereafter, they made and sold many similar jackalopes to a retail outlet in South Dakota, and another taxidermist continues to manufacture the horned rabbits in the 21st century. Stuffed and mounted, jackalopes are found in many bars and other places in the United States; stores catering to tourists sell jackalope postcards and other paraphernalia, and commercial entities in America and elsewhere have used the word jackalope or a jackalope logo as part of their marketing strategies. The jackalope has appeared in published stories, poems, television shows, video games, and a low-budget mockumentary film. The Wyoming Legislature has considered bills to make the jackalope the state's official mythological creature.
The underlying legend of the jackalope, upon which the Wyoming taxidermists were building, may be related to similar stories in other cultures and other historical times. Researchers suggest that at least some of the tales of horned hares were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus. It causes horn- and antler-like tumors to grow in various places on a rabbit's head and body.
Folklorists see the jackalope as one of a group of tall tale animals, known as fearsome critters, common to North American culture since the turn of the twentieth century. These fabulous beasts appear in tall tales featuring hodags, giant snakes, fur-bearing trout, and many others. Some such stories lend themselves to comic hoaxing by entrepreneurs who seek attention for their own personal or their region's fortune.