Donald Ellis Recognized as a Pre-Eminent Dealer

A brief profile in Native Peoples Magazine describes Donald Ellis as one of ‘the leading figures’ in the trade of historical Native American art.

The gallery focuses on exceptional 18th and 19th century Native American Art, with a particular emphasis on the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands and Inuit cultures. ‘Commanding some of the highest prices paid for any form of Native art,’ the author writes, Native American art is ‘in high demand around the world as examples of lasting craftsmanship, beauty and rarity, providing a tangible link to lifestyles now largely gone.’

As the author reports, Ellis first encountered historical Native American art growing up near the Six Nations Reserve in Brantfort, Ontario. Collecting potteryshards and arrow heads since childhood, he opened his eponymous gallery in 1976, and was the first Canadian to exhibit at the prestigious, invitation-only Winter Antiques Show in New York. Ellis is also the only Canadian appraised on the American Antiques Roadshow.