A Classic Twilled Manta with a Blue Central Panel,
Navajo, circa 1850, also known as the Marcus Manta.
A Classic Twilled Manta with a Blue Central Panel, Navajo, circa 1850, also known as the Marcus Manta.
The manta measures 38 inches long by 54 inches wide, as woven.
The Pytka First Phase measures 54 inches long by 54 inches wide, as woven. Its square dimensions are also unique. All of the other classic and late classic Navajo chief’s blankets were woven as horizontal rectangles. 99% of the classic and late classic chief’s blankets woven in the woman’s style measure approximately 45 inches long by 55 inches wide, as woven.
The Marcus Manta is ex- Museum of the American Indian / Heye Foundation, New York. The Heye Foundation Catalog number 11/8275 is stenciled onto one corner of the manta. While we don’t know the date when the museum de-accessioned the manta, we know that, in 1939, the manta belonged to Dr. Harold Corbusier, of Santa Fe.
Dr. Corbusier and his wife, Louise, owned the Sol y Sombra estate on Old Santa Fe Trail east of Santa Fe. Sol y Sombra means “sun and shadow.” Between 1984 and her death, in 1986, Sol y Sombra belonged to Georgia O’Keefe. The estate later belonged to Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.
On March 1, 1939, H. P. Mera, the Curator of Archaeology at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, photographed and cataloged the Marcus Manta for Dr. Corbusier. Under “Remarks,” Mera noted that the manta has “Heye Foundation catalog number: 11/8275.” Mera’s documentation establishes that the Museum of the American Indian / Heye Foundation de-accessioned the manta prior to March 1, 1939.
On March 1, 1939, H. P. Mera, the Staff Archaeologist at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, photographed and cataloged the Marcus Manta. In his
notes, Mera attributes the manta as “Pueblo,” catalogs it as “dress striped,” identifies the manta’s red yarns as “raveled, coarse 2 strand,” identifies “Corbusier” as the owner, and mentions the manta’s “lazy lines.” It’s worth noting that while so-called lazy lines are common in classic and late classic Navajo mantas, lazy lines do not appear in Pueblo mantas.
On March 1, 1939, H. P. Mera, the Staff Archaeologist at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, photographed and cataloged the Marcus Manta. In his notes, Mera attributes the manta as “Pueblo,” catalogs it as “dress striped,” identifies the manta’s red yarns as “raveled, coarse 2 strand,” identifies “Corbusier” as the owner, and mentions the manta’s “lazy lines.” It’s worth noting that while so-called lazy lines are common in classic and late classic Navajo mantas, lazy lines do not appear in Pueblo mantas.
A detail of the central panel of the Marcus Manta, Navajo, circa 1850.
Dr. Harold Corbusier died in 1950, in Santa Fe. While it’s unknown when
Dr. Corbusier or his estate sold the manta, by 1978, the manta belonged to Tony Berlant, of Santa Monica. In 1978, Berlant sold the manta to Christophe de Menil, of Houston and New York. Christophe de Menil is the daughter of Dominique and John de Menil, the co-founders of the Menil Collection, the Rothko Chapel, and the Cy Twombly Pavilion, in Houston.
In 1986, when I was working for Mac Grimmer at Morning Star Gallery in Santa Fe, we bought the manta from the de Menil family and re-sold it to Dr. Bert Lies, of Santa Fe. In 1987, I started Joshua Baer & Company. In 1989, we exhibited the manta as part of Twelve Classics, first in Santa Fe, then in New York, at the Fall Antiques Show at the Pier. The manta is illustrated as Plate 2 in Twelve Classics, the exhibition catalog. In the catalog, I dated the manta “circa 1850.”
In 1991, we sold the manta to Linda and Stanley Marcus, of Dallas. Stanley Marcus was the founder of Neiman-Marcus, in Dallas. The manta remained in the Marcus’s collection until 1998, when they consigned it to Sotheby’s. On December 2, 1998, the manta was sold as Lot #94 by Sotheby’s, New York, for $177,728, buyer’s premium included. The winning bidder was an art appraiser in New York. The appraiser later told me he’d purchased the manta on behalf of a couple who lived in New York.
During the 2000s, our company made two offers for the manta, through the New York appraiser. Both offers were declined. We still don’t know the identity of the owner or owners of the manta.
In the Marcus Manta, all of the red yarns are raveled bayeta piece-dyed with lac. All of the red yarns were raveled from the same bolt of red bayeta fabric. Both the dark and medium blue yarns are handspun Churro fleece dyed with indigo.
