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ProvenanceClaire Zeisler, Chicago, Illinois; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.56.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.228.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 250.
Culture
Zuni Pueblo
Kachina
Date1900-1920
DimensionsOverall: 16 × 8 × 6 1/4 in. (40.6 × 20.3 × 15.9 cm)
Object numberT0121
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis figure [also see T0476] is typical of Zuni kachinas in several respects: the simply carved body, articulated arms attached to the body with nails, the fabric clothing, and the mask constructed of miscellaneous materials. The oversized head masks are covered by untanned skin with horsehair beards, carved and painted wooden eyes and horns, and black commercial leather for the muzzles. The crowning wigs are sheep or bison wool. The leggings and shirt may be goatskin, while the skirt is made of commercial cotton cloth with a faded pink coloring and lacks the usual painted design. The sashes have touches of embroidery. The buffalo dancer and kachina were introduced from Hopi. The dancer appears in the Sioux or Feather, Dance. The figures holds zigzag lightning sticks in their left hands and may have held rattles (now missing) in their right hands (c.f. Maurer 1977, fig.321; Bunzel 1932, pl.50). They have ball-shaped wooden eyes, characteristic of the Hopi kachina but not the Zuni version. These anomalies, and others, suggest to scholars that the figures were made by a person who was not living at Zuni and was not conersant with traditional details. This implies that they were made to be sold to outsiders. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)ProvenanceClaire Zeisler, Chicago, Illinois; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.56.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.228.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 250.
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