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Bahti Indian Arts (Tucson)

 The Tucson Bahti Indian Arts shop is large, is full of wonderful art and is just delightful to browse. Mark specializes particularly in fetishes but has written books on weavings, jewelry, sandpaintings and basketry as well as fetishes. He is also a frequent judge at juried competitions such as the Heard and Santa Fe Indian Markets. He’s beyond a doubt someone you can trust.

His dad, Tom started the shop in 1966 and Mark took over in 1972. Prior to Tom opening his own shop he partnered with John Tanner in the early ‘50s and opened Desert House in Tucson which has since closed, but had been very well respected among dealers and collectors.

Mark steers clear of antiquities for the most part, although he has a few and told me how important he thought provenance was for an older piece. Not all dealers view this as an issue for collectors, but Mark thinks a known history of a piece might help for authentication purposes. And more importantly, he thinks it adds to the value of a piece for the collector when he/she knows where it’s been over the years. He says there are many dealers in town that he would recommend to customers looking for antiquities so he doesn’t feel compelled to carry but the few he has good provenance on.

I was fortunate to run into Mark at both his shop in Santa Fe while I was there and his shop in Tucson when I was there. The people that work in both his shops are charming and in Tucson, be sure to inquire if you buy a fetish whether Alyce Kyle might have an Ogden Nash poem for that animal. She has a bunch committed to memory.

For more information on Mark see his Santa Fe Shop

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About

Inventory

You will find a large collection of traditional katsina dolls here, some traditional weavings, cuffs, fetishes, jewelry and paintings by his wife Emmi Whitehorse as well as other work.

Source Of Inventory

Mark buys from artists directly and occasionally will buy an antiquity that comes with provenance. He had a wonderful squash blossom that spent lots of time with a prominent American family. Wouldn’t that make it even nicer to own?

Shop Description

 The shop is in a lovely adobe plaza, is bright and spacious and things are well displayed in cases and on the walls. His website is absolutely beautiful. He shows the art and usually a photo and bio of the artist as well. Well worth a look.