Posted 6 years ago
artfoot
(367 items)
Yesterday a beaded bone item posted by valentino97 reminded me of these. They are just bizarre enough that I've kept them around.
Though I suspect these are more "trading post" items than having any particular tribal association, they are often called Zuni. The two in the first picture were probably sold as "good luck charms" (similar to those now ghastly "rabbit's foot" keychains of my youth). They seem to be built around the limbs of some sort of small rodent. The one in the second picture - the one that looks more like a Buddha than a Zuni - has a pin on the back of that psychedelic thought bubble and it was apparently intended to be worn as a brooch. The beads on that flying mantilla are stitched to a scrap of soft, furry leather (rat?) and underneath the full skirt dangle two little critter (mouse?) legs. Because of the actual bone and animal substructure, it is a safe bet that these little beaded dolls date from the 1950s. More recent versions are without the rat parts.
These are each around 3" long.
My pleasure - thanks for the reminder.
No, not rat or mouse bones. These are a Zuni folk art, made for the souvenir trade, beaded over a rabbit's foot. They were still being made like this in the 1990s, but most now are beaded over rolled cloth or leather. The Zuni were the only Native American tribe to make these.
The two styles are known as "Chiefs" and "Skirts," so that's not a Buddha, it's an Indian woman, thus the term "skirts." She is suspended from a chief's head. That's a feather headdress on the Chief.
Once Zuni beaders changed the style, to eliminate the rabbit foot, the Chinese started copying them, which pretty much ruined the tourist market for the Zuni, who then switched from primarily chiefs and skirts to more elaborate, and larger, beaded figures.
Thanks CanyonRoad for the knowledgeable clarification.
Canyon Road, I thought you were going to say these were African. I had a doll very similar to the one in the second photo.
Both the Zulu and the Ndebele from southern Africa make traditional beaded dolls. The colors and the size of the beads used generally is different, and they also incorporate wrapped wire in some of their dolls.
Recently some African beaders have actually started copying Zuni dolls. I'm not sure where they are coming from, possibly Kenya. But these are definitely Zuni.
Thank you for that further information, CanyonRoad, as always very helpful and generous with your expertise. :)