A SET OF HOPI SNAKE PRIEST AND ANTELOPE PRIEST FIGURES

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Details

A SET OF HOPI SNAKE PRIEST AND ANTELOPE PRIEST FIGURES
The eight snake priests in various poses, holding snakes and feathers, with bent legs, black and brown body paint, hide and fur dress with shell ornamentation, black fiber and feathers as hair; the three Antelope priests holding rattles in each hand, with white and light blue body paint as well as red and black, the faces flesh colored and both brown fiber and feathers in hair, also adorned with shell ornaments them
ranging in size from: 12¾in. (32.4cm.) to 15in. (38.9cm.)
high (11)

Lot Essay

This group represents the snake and antelope priests who perform at the Hopi rain ceremonies in August. While the antelope priests sing, the snake dancers divide into pairs and approach a cage containing living snakes that had been gathered for the occasion. Each lead dancers places a snake in his mouth, and eventually puts it on the ground so that it will go forth as a messanger. Only specially trained Hopi men could carve such figures, and such groups are rare. This set, dating from about 1950 is attributed to Emil Pooley (see Wright, 1977, p. 19).