Butterfly Maidens Gourd Figures

Description

Butterfly Maidens Gourd Figures by Robert Rivera

The Butterfly Maiden is a dancer who appears in the Pueblos in August, as that is when the butterflies appear. The Butterfly Dance, a traditional social dance of the Hopi, is held in August after the gathering of the harvest. It is a thanksgiving dance for the harvest, chiefly for the corn crop, and features dancing by young Pueblo maidens wearing elaborate headdresses. These beautiful Butterfly Maidens were created from gourds with a very thin 1/8" piece of masonite carved for their headdresses. Necklaces of shell, turquoise and coral, earrings are shell and spiny oyster. urquoise. They are wrapped in printed fabric and deer suede. The figures are 8 and 6.5 inches tall and with the tablitas the complete height of each is 10.25 and 9.25 inches tall respectively. They stand on a beautiful gnared manzanita base. The base is 3 inches tall.