Pair of Ironwood Carved Eagles

These substantial, hand-carved ironwood eagles are unusual in their large size and represent a male and female pairing with wings aloft. The use of Ironwood (palo fierro) to create sculptures of animals and figures is attributed to a Seri Indian, Jose Astorga, in the 1950s. Astorga, formerly a pumice stone sculptor, began making use of the ironwood indigenous to the region. Ironwood was commonly used in carving harpoons, toys, tools, and instruments, but until Astorga began using the wood to carve animals, ironwood was not associated with artistic sculpture. It is extremely difficult to carve this dense, heavy hardwood into highly polished, finely detailed works of art. The involved time, skill and effort required to work the wood entirely by hand explains the scarcity of these more monumental, detailed works. These eagles are the most sizable, complex examples we have seen. The smaller of the two has a wingspan of 18″ L (all other dimensions are the same).

H: 20″ x W: 22″ x D: 9″