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While on our recent visit to the Zuni Pueblo, in western New Mexico, we were very fortunate to find this very cute frog fetish that was made by the very talented fetish carver Gabe Sice.
Gabe hand carved this frog fetish from one solid piece of elk antler. To adorn the frog, and make it more colorful, he added black jet eyes and he placed several small pieces of Mediterranean red coral on the frog's back.
We've previously seen a few similar fetishes that Gabe made, where he used turquoise to add color, but this is the only one we've ever seen where he chose to use coral instead of turquoise.
As a final step Gabe polished the fetish so it has a very smooth finish.
This fetish measures 3" long, 2" wide and 1+1/2" tall. It weighed in at 66 grams.
Fetishes have been a very important part of Native American Indian culture for many centuries and the frog fetish is believed to deliver rain, fertility and abundance to whomever carries one with them.
Many Zuni women will keep a frog fetish close to their bed when wanting to become pregnant.
Recently fetishes have become desirable to a different group of people for a very different reason. Poker players use flat bottomed fetishes, like this frog, as card protectors hoping it will bring them luck.
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NOTES:
All pictures are enlarged to show detail.
The coin in one of the pictures is a quarter.
Colors may vary based on your monitor's settings.
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