* Kachina Snake Hilili - Thlemhoktona Katsina - Lot 27

* Kachina Snake Hilili - Thlemhoktona Katsina Zuni, New Mexico Carved wood, pigments, feathers, leather, shell, turquoise H. 36.5 cm (without base and feathers) Circa 1900-1920 Provenance : - Collection Galerie Flak, Paris - Collection Léo Scheer & Nathalie Rheims, acquired from previous owners in 2003 Published: - Esprit Kachina, Barton Wright, Julien Flak, 2003, page 70 This is a remarkable early example of Kachina. The articulated arms and rich decoration (turquoise stones, fabric, leather, shells) of this dancer identify it as a Zuni sculpture from New Mexico. This hieratic figure wears an openwork tabletta on the top of his head, decorated with rain-related symbolic motifs (tadpoles and sky stairs on each side of the tabletta, rainbow at the mouth). Note the refinement of the necklace, bracelet and earrings made of turquoise, a stone sacred to the Zuni. As early as the first writings brought back by Spanish missionaries and conquistadors in the 16th century, we find references to the use of turquoise by the populations of the American Southwest corresponding to today's Zunis. In 1539, in his account of his frantic search for the Cities of Gold, the mythical Cibola in New Mexico, Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza (Marc de Nice) wrote: "I gathered thirty chiefs, who were very well provided with turquoise necklaces, some of them wearing as many as five or six rows of stones. (Relación de Fr. Marcos de Niza a la provincia de Culuacan en Nueva España, 1539). It's easy to imagine how important this Kachina figure must have been to be endowed with such prestigious ornaments. In Esprit Kachina (2003), curator Barton Wright described the sculpture presented here as follows: "This Hilili Serpent dancer figure is known in the Zuni language as Thlemhoktona (Clemhoktoni) or Awethluliya. After the Winter Solstice ceremonies, an additional dance called Hilili Kohanna can be performed in each of the six Zuni kivas. This dance is frequently chosen as it is very popular. The Hilili dancers stand in single file, not singing, but shouting the "Hilili" that gives them their name. A chorus of singers accompanies this group, surrounded on one side by dancers depicting Eagles and on the other by a Hilili snake dancer carrying two long whips. This Kachina figure is one of the highlights of this collection.