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Rare Phillips & Gutierrez Eagle BIt

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
Rare Phillips & Gutierrez Eagle BIt
Preview: Phoenix Marriott Mesa - 200 N Centennial Way, Mesa, AZ 85201
Preview Period:
Thursday January 27 -- 3:00 pm-7:00 pm
Friday January 28 -- 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday January 29 – 9:00 am -4:30 pm
Phillips & Gutierrez (1917-1919) Cheyenne WY well maker-marked (inside the right cheek) Pat No 20 Eagle Spade Bit measuring 8” overall. The cheeks are 100% original including impressive Gutierrez engraved 2 1/2” domed conchos and stately American bald eagle. The mouth and snake slobber bar have been restored by heralded contemporary craftsman, Bruce Haener of Los Osos, Calif. P & G is arguably the most coveted maker-mark of all bit and spur makers in the Vaquero tradition, and this pattern ranked with the most expensive pieces in their catalog. Lot includes a limited edition, hardback reproduction of their 1918 catalog Raphael Filo Gutierrez was born December 13, 1889 in San Francisco and by 1905 was working as a bit and spur maker apprentice with Bill Drake and Rollie Van Buskirk. When he was in his early 20s, Filo journeyed to Sacramento, the home of such legendary makers as Thomas Hidreth, Van Voorhies and Clarence Nelson, to work with Bernard Valenzeula. Gutierrez worked the Northern California circuit following the large saddle companies before joining the renowned G S Garcia in Elko, Nevada, in 1911. At the Garcia saddlery Filo formed working relation?ships with other bit and spur makers that included John Estrada, Steve Clarke, William Phillips and Alsalio Herrera. Five years later, in 1916, Gutierrez moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming forming a partnership with Bill Phillips and setting up shop at 423 West 19th Street. In 1918, Phillips was drafted to serve in WWI, and Steve Clarke joined Filo in Cheyenne for one year before the partnership dissolved in 1919 and Guteirrez moved to San Francisco to start his own business.