Zuni Carved Serpentine Badger Fetish with Turquoise & Shell Offering Bundle

A carved Zuni fetish in mottled olive-green serpentine, worked in the form of a badger moving low and purposeful — the characteristic posture of the animal in Zuni cosmology, where Badger holds guardianship of the South and commands knowledge of plants, healing roots, and the earth beneath. The carver captured the animal's defining attributes precisely: a thick, squat body; wide, flat haunches; heavy forelegs with strong clawed feet rendered in parallel incised grooves; a broad, blunt muzzle; and — most diagnostic — a large swept tail that rises and flares behind the body, fully feather-incised with tight herringbone and radiating linework across its entire surface. The eyes are inlaid turquoise with a fine drilled center, set just behind the squared snout.

Bound across the back is a traditional medicine bundle — an arrowhead-form point in mother-of-pearl secured with a wrapped strand of turquoise, spiny oyster, jet, and shell heishi in white, coral-pink, brown, and black, with a small natural-fiber tassel at the tie-point. In Zuni fetish tradition, the bundle feeds the animal spirit and activates its power; badger fetishes in particular are associated with healing and the curative properties of the earth. The piece is unmarked, consistent with working fetishes made for use rather than sale.

CONDITION

Good with no remarkable damage. Light surface wear and a few natural inclusions in the stone; the offering bundle is intact and securely tied.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 1 1/8" H × 3 3/4" W × 3/4" D
• Weight: 42.3 grams
• Materials: Serpentine, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, jet, spiny oyster, shell
• Unmarked
• U.S. Quarter Shown for Scale — Not Included