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
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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 Description
- housepaint on carved pine with chicken feathers
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Dress — costume — mask
- Dress — Indian dress
- Figure — full length
- Indian — Navajo
- Object Number
- 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.