Thursday, November 13, 2014

Protecting the Past


    

      My Grandfather Walker's home in Sapulpa, Oklahoma was almost a 'shot gun' style bungalow. When you entered through the front door, you came upon the first room, and the remainder of the first floor unfolded, room by room, until you reached the kitchen. The house was identical to the one next door, where my great-grandmother Rundell had lived. When my grandparents married, she had had the second house constructed and instructed my grandmother Mamie that she and her new husband Don, a young Sapulpa lawyer, would be living there. Great-grandmother Rundell was a force to be reckoned with, but that's another story.

          I remember walking around that first room as a child. It was completely filled with the type of bookcases you would find in a lawyer's office. The front of each shelf was covered by wood-framed glass door that you would lower to protect all those legal volumes from dust. Except my Grandfather Walker's bookcases were not filled with heavy leather-bound books of past cases. His had moccasins and beadwork and best of all, rattlesnake tails. My grandfather collected Indian and Southwestern artifacts.


          After my father died, the UPS man delivered a large cardboard box to my house in Massachusetts. I carried the box to the dining room table, snipped the string, and cut open the tape. Underneath layers and layers of the Washington Post was a huge buff-colored bowl. I lifted it out and placed it on the table. It was a foot and a half high and about the same in diameter at its widest, rising to travel back in slightly to a wide neck with a lip. The outside was decorated with faded black geometric designs and occasional accents of deep russet. It was a Zuni Indian bowl and this bowl had not seen life from the safety of a shelf. Its worn edge and soft colors said it had been used on a daily basis, perhaps to hold corn or grain. 

          It sat in my living room for years on a low shelf under a window. I enjoyed looking at it and thinking of my Oklahoma roots and my grandfathers room of wonder. Then two things happened. First, while watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow  I learned the worth of a similar bowl, not quite as large as mine.  Second, my daughter produced three rambunctious sons.

          Our Zuni bowl now lives a quiet retired life on my bedroom dresser. 

9 comments:

  1. What a beautiful bowl! Somebody loved you very much. :-)

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  2. What a beautiful piece. What happened to all the rest of your grandfather's collection? I have two small vase forms from my grandfather but I have no idea what tribe, how old, or how valuable. they are red ochre color with gray and cream designs.

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  3. Good for you, protecting the inheritance.
    My grandparents took a trip west in 1936. My grandfather returned with an Olla basket, an Apache winnowing basket, small pottery bowls, a California tribe basket, rugs...on and on. When I realized I was tired of storing them I sold them on EBay. I was stunned at the prices and I'm pleased to say everything went home, where it belonged.

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  4. I love the colors of your bowl and I love its story. So wonderful to have things like that. How old do you think it is?

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  5. The things we treasure are more valuable than they are worth when the memories tangle around them.

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  6. Now you're making me make predictions. The bowl wasn't worth much as no special efforts were made to preserve it. Or maybe there was an accident with the bowl involving three lively grandsons?

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  7. It's a beauty and a lovely family piece to treasure..

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  8. Wise idea to move that lovely bowl away from rambunctious young boys.

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.