Syracuse University Art Galleries November 3D, 1984 - January 13, 1985 The Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery School of Art College of Visual and Performing Arts Syracuse University Syracuse, New York 13210 Syracuse University Art Galleries © 1984 Joe and Emi Lowe Art Gallery School of Art, College of Visual Performing Arts Syracuse Syracuse, New York 13210 Joseph A. Scala, Director All Rights Reserved Most Pueblo potters dig, clean, and grind their own clay in The two types of sculpture in this exhibition are the kachina the same manner as their ancestors. Water is added to make and fetish carvings made the Hopi, Zuni and Acomahs. the clay malleable and temper is added for strength. The Kachina dolls, or tihus as they are called by the Hopi, are temper is any insoluble material such as crushed rock, pot­ one of the most popular Native American sculptural forms. tery sherds, or sand which binds the clay and helps reduce Traditionally carved by men from the root of the cotton­ shrinkage during drying or firing. wood tree, these dolls had both a sacred and secular pur­ Pueblo pottery is built by the coil and scrape method. pose. They were playthings given to children and young Coils, rope-like fillets of clay, are rolled out and wound women to instruct them about the kachina spirits. The dolls around a preformed saucer-shaped clay disc. The sides of represent the masked dancers who impersonate the the vessel are built up by adding a succession of coils. The kachinas when they dwell among humanity during the six­ Kachina figure, coils are then smoothed and the walls of the pot thinned by month ceremonial cycle. A Zuni dancer's kachina mask is the Maalon Kachina Hopi, First Mesa, Arizona scraping their surfaces with a shaped potsherd, gourd, or included in the exhibition. c. 1900 stone. The kachinas themselves are spirits of animate and in­ animate things. They are closely associated with water, the Wood, paint, feathers Before the design is applied, the surface of the pot is Courtesy of the Brooklyn key to life in the arid Southwest. As spirit beings they can usually slipped and polished. The slip is a very fine-grained Bow! Museum clay which is washed over the pot's surface. A slip is added Sikyatki culture, cross the boundary between the natural and supernatural because it holds the pigment and takes a polish better than from Arizona worlds and so serve as vehicles for prayers to the deities the coarser structural clay. Both mineral and vegetal c. 1400-1625 A.D. who control natural phenomena. Their number varies The trend in kachina-carving has been toward increased materials are used for pigments. Even today most come Ceramic because ineffective kachinas are continuously replaced by sophistication and realism, especially in anatomy, gesture, directly from nature and are applied with a yucca sliver Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum more potent ones. It is estimated that today there are be and minute clothing and accessory detail. This trend is well which has been chewed on one end to form a brush. Firing tween 250 and 500 different kachinas, each with his distinc­ illustrated by the large selection of Kachinas on display is done in a shallow basin scooped from the earth where tive mask and costume. which covers roughly a 100-year period. Its earliest expres­ the pots are carefully stacked and the dung or There is strong archaeological evidence that the Kachina sion can be found in the costumed kachinas from Zuni. Encouraged by traders, some Navajos have made carvings heaped round. Cult dates back at least to the 14th century. While its origins The technology has been remarkably consistent are unknown, it appears that kachina carving evolved from of their sacred Vei beings. Vei carvings are not, however, throughout the l,500-year history of Pueblo pottery produc­ The end of the late Historic period also marked a change the Prehistoric Pueblo tradition of fetish and altar carving traditional to the Navajo, and have not become a part of tion. The decoration and designs of Pueblo pottery, from the anonymous potter to the artist/potter whose signed and perhaps to a lesser extent from Hispanic Santos carving. their craft tradition. The exhibition fOLJr excellent however, have varied greatly. Most of the in this ex- works are sought allover the world. Nampeyo of Hano, The exhibition includes a Pueblo altar carving in the form of examples of Navajo Vei carvings. hibition date from the late Historic period (1850-1900) and Maria Martinez of San Iidefonso, and Lucy Lewis of Acoma a parrot. Fetishes are small magical charms used to bring luck in the Modern period (1900-present). During these periods pot­ are three of the earliest famous modern Pueblo potters. The carving tradition was well established by the late 19th the hunt or war, to increase fertility, or to protect livestock. tery ceased to be made for functional and utilitarian pur­ They and their descendants have drawn inspiration from century when the dolls were actively collected by They are also used in any other area where supernatural aid Syracuse University Art Galleriesmight be helpful. They are primarily carved of stone but poses only, and became, in addition, a source of cash in­ both the past and the present, changing the status of Pueblo ethnographers and traders. We are fortunate to have in the come. The size of pots tended to decrease to make them pottery from anonymous craft to signed decorative art. exhibition a number of early examples collected by Stewart other materials such as wood, or shell may also be easier to export. Decoration, although still inspired by tradi­ Culin for the Brooklyn Museum. used. Though most of the Southwest tribes fetishes, tional motifs, increasingly responded to customer As kachina carving has become more responsive to the the Zuni were the major carvers and other groups traded for their products. preferences. collector and to tourist markets, it has lost much of its sacred character. Indeed there are now even a few women For the Southwest Indians all things, plants and animals as kachina-carvers. However, it is still considered imperative to well as inanimate objects, contain a spirit. Natural concre­ accurately depict and identify the spirit beings. tions and other objects, whose forms suggested animals, were considered the most powerfu I and the best fetishes. Minimal carving was used to expose the image of the spirit residing within the object. The fetish was thought to impart to its owner the qualities of the spirit which inhabited it. For example, the fetish of a mountain lion, an animal of prey, Seed jar with deer motif Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, was thought to give its owner keen eyesight and smell and made by Lucy M. Lewis so ensure success in hunting. Fetishes were considered to c. 1970 be alive and needed special care, such as being fed with Ceramic sacred cornmeal. Courtesy of Joseph A. Falco Today fetishes are carved primarily for the tourist trade. and Clay Johns Many examples retain traditional forms including offerings of Seed jar with polychrome antelope motif arrowheads tied to their backs. The Zuni have also expand­ in mimbres style ed their fetish carving to include little animals strung into Acome Pueblo, New Mexico, necklaces. made by Emma Lewis c. 1983 Pouch of Fetishes Ceramic Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico Courtesy of Joseph A. Falco c. 1890 and Clay Johns Leather, stone, turquoise Courtesy of Montana Private Collection I The traditions remain strong; craft-making survives. GENERAL Materials, techniques, forms and sizes of art objects will Coe, Ralph T. Sacred Circles: Two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art. continue to change in response to stimuli from the outside Kansas City, Mo: Nelson Gallery of Art, 1976. and from commercial demands. Success in the market place Conn, Richard. Native American Art in the Denver Art Museum. Denver: Denver Art will help preserve the craft traditions. And the strong Museum, 1979. cultural identities of the artists will help to maintain the clarity of vision which produced these masterworks. Douglas. Pleasing the Spirits. New York: The Chylen Press, 1982. Norman. American Indian Art. New York: Harrison House and Harry N. Abrams, I would like to thank those who contributed to the suc­ 1969. cess of this exhibition, especially Jonathan Holstein, Barbara Bianco and Melanie LeMaistre for their help and Holstein, Philip M., ed. Enduring Visions: 7000 Years of Southwestern Indian Art. encou ragement. Denver: The Jarvis Press, 1979. Maurer, Evan M. The Native American Heritage. A Survey of North American Indian Donald A. Herbst Art. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1977. Guest Curator Tanner, Clara lee. Southwest Indian Craft Arts. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1968. PUEBLO Bandelier, Adoph F.A. The Delight Makers. Reprinted. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. Di Peso, Charles C. Casa Crandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Grand Chichimeca. 6 vols, Amerind Foundation Series 9. Dragoon, Ariz., 1974. Dozier, Edward P. The Pueblo Indians of North America. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1970. Eggan, Fred. Social Organization of the Western Pueblos. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950. Hammond, George P. Narratives of the Coronado Expedition, 7540-7542. Albuquerque: Syracuse UniversityUniversity Art of New Mexico Galleries Press, 1940. Kidder, Alfred V. An Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology. Revised edition. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1962. Ortiz, Alfonso. The Tewa World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969. Ortiz, Alfonso, Volume Editor. Handbook of North America Indians Vol. 70. Southwest. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1983. Cover Photo: Parsons, Elsie C. Pueblo Indian Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939.