Maalo spirit kachina doll - Lot 3

Maalo spirit kachina doll Hopi, Arizona Cottonwood root, pigments H. 18.2 cm Provenance : - Ex Brant Mackley collection, Santa Fe Before being a ritual doll, the kachina represented a Hopi spirit or deity (the Hopi pantheon includes over 450 different spirits, chiefs or gods). The kachina appear ritually at masked dances held on the plaza in the center of Hopi villages, according to a very precise schedule drawn up in the secrecy of the kivas, the underground ceremonial chambers. Each kachina is characterized by a mask, a costume and facial or body paintings that enable its precise identification. Here we have a fine representation of the Kachina Ma'alo or Malo - the Kachina with the stick. The dance of the Kachina Ma'alo spirit is a prayer for rain and abundant harvests. Ceremonies involving Ma'alo, common among the Hopi in the early 20th century, have become increasingly rare, replaced by other kachina dances playing a similar role. The kachina presented here is a typical example of the work sculpted during the first quarter of the 20th century, from 1910-1920. Condition report: Consistent with use and age, some pigment loss on surface