Mojave, Colorado River region
Circa 1900
Clay, human hair, trade beads, fabric
Height 9¼ in. (23.5 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe, NM
Mojave figurines of this type were modeled in clay and finished with applied materials to convey identity, adornment, and cultural detail. This example depicts an albino figure, distinguished by unpigmented skin rendered in pale clay with scattered brown spotting, a representation that reflects Mojave recognition of albinism within their community. The face is painted with large concentric eye markings, and the figure wears a fabric wrap skirt and a headband of dark cloth with long human hair extensions attached at the crown.
Jewelry is integral to the figure's character: a strand of blue and white trade beads encircles the neck, with pendant turquoise-colored disc earrings suspended from the ears. Mojave dolls served social and ceremonial functions and were also traded with neighboring peoples and, by the late nineteenth century, with collectors and curio dealers. The Santa Fe provenance is consistent with the active Southwest collecting networks of the early twentieth century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Mojave, Colorado River region
Circa 1900
Clay, human hair, trade beads, fabric
Height 9¼ in. (23.5 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe, NM
Mojave figurines of this type were modeled in clay and finished with applied materials to convey identity, adornment, and cultural detail. This example depicts an albino figure, distinguished by unpigmented skin rendered in pale clay with scattered brown spotting, a representation that reflects Mojave recognition of albinism within their community. The face is painted with large concentric eye markings, and the figure wears a fabric wrap skirt and a headband of dark cloth with long human hair extensions attached at the crown.
Jewelry is integral to the figure's character: a strand of blue and white trade beads encircles the neck, with pendant turquoise-colored disc earrings suspended from the ears. Mojave dolls served social and ceremonial functions and were also traded with neighboring peoples and, by the late nineteenth century, with collectors and curio dealers. The Santa Fe provenance is consistent with the active Southwest collecting networks of the early twentieth century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
