Masked Figure

Copied Leonard Willeto, Masked Figure, 1980, housepaint on carved pine with chicken feathers, 11 1⁄2 x 5 x 3 3⁄4 in. (29.2 x 12.7 x 9.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.99

Artwork Details

Title
Masked Figure
Artist
Date
1980
Location
Dimensions
11 1⁄2 x 5 x 3 3⁄4 in. (29.2 x 12.7 x 9.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
housepaint on carved pine with chicken feathers
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure — full length
  • Indian — Navajo
  • Dress — Indian dress
  • Dress — costume — mask
Object Number
1997.124.99
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.99

Artwork Description

These two Indian figures are both decorated with chicken feathers and dressed in costumes and elaborate headdresses so that they resemble kachina dolls (Chuck and Jan Rosenak, The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art, 1994). Kachina dolls represent sacred ancestral spirits who live among the Pueblo people for part of each year to help them with their growing and harvest seasons. Figures like these were worshiped as idols or given to children to teach them about their ancestors.