Dr. Harold Finkelstein’s Releasing the Spirit: The Art of Zuni Fetish Carving is more than an art book—it is a cultural history, a family chronicle, and a meditation on creativity and tradition.  Dr. Finkelstein undertakes an ambitious project:  to weave together a history of the Zuni Pueblo, an exploration of the artistry and purpose of fetish carving, and an account of the families and individuals who sustain the tradition. Spread across two volumes, the work blends anthropology, art history, and collectible lore into a single, beautifully presented package, offering readers not only a guide to collectible art but also a cultural narrative that spans centuries.

The first volume, Out of the Past, places Zuni fetish carving within centuries of Pueblo life, trade, and holistic worldview. Finkelstein explains how these small animal carvings are shaped from natural materials – turquoise, shell, stone – and understood as vessels of spirit.  His prose is generally straightforward and accessible, though moments of lyricism surface, particularly when describing the carver’s role in “releasing the spirit contained within the raw material.”  The emphasis on history ensures readers never lose sight of the carvings’ cultural roots, even as they admire them as art objects.

The second volume shifts to the present and future, offering intimate portraits of Zuni families of carvers and individual artists within those families.  These chapters humanize the tradition, reminding readers that each fetish is not only an object but also a trace of a living hand.  The book concludes with a provocative look forward to 2070, speculating on the evolving role of fetish carving in a globalized art market.  This narrative arc—past to present to speculative horizon—gives the work unusual breadth and intellectual ambition.

What elevates Releasing the Spirit beyond scholarship is its visual richness. The photography is exquisite—page after page of carvings rendered in crisp, luminous detail.  These images make the book as much a gallery as a text, allowing readers to linger over the individuality of each piece.  These photographs elevate the book to the level of an art object in its own right.

If the book has a limitation, it is that its academic tone sometimes creates distance, and one wishes for more direct voices from Zuni carvers themselves.  Still, Finkelstein’s respect for the tradition is evident throughout, and his decision to situate fetish carving in both cultural and artistic contexts makes the book unusually comprehensive.  The declarative, almost textbook-like style ensures a steady pace of information.  The effect is hybrid: half art-historical study, half cultural chronicle.

Ultimately, Releasing the Spirit is a work of both beauty and substance. Collectors will treasure its detail, historians will value its breadth, and general readers will find themselves drawn into the artistry of a tradition that remains vibrantly alive. More than anything, the book insists that each carving is not a trinket but a material embodiment of spirit, history, and artistry.  If the ultimate aim of the book is to “release the spirit” of Zuni art into wider appreciation, then it achieves this with elegance and authority.

Nila Brown
Brown’s Trading Co.
Safford, AZ