Mamie Deschellie Cardboard Turtle and Raven

A completely whimsical cardboard collage by Mamie Deschillie—a bejeweled and spangled turtle carrying a similarly sartorial blue raven on its back, mounted on a wooden stand (using two large toothpicks), signed on bottom left side, made of corrugated cardboard, poster paint, tape, beads, glitter, circa 1990s.

Mamie Deschillie (or Deschellie), 1920 - 2010, lived in Fruitland, New Mexico, at the edge of the Navajo Reservation near Farmington New Mexico. She was well known for her “Mud Toys”, specifically unfired but sun-baked clay animal figures decorated with tempera paint, and also for her cardboard collages of animals and people which are highly prized by collectors.