Pottery figurine; "rain god". Seated, white with red and green decoration. Repaired, but one leg still broken off.
Donor:
Mrs. H. R. Gardner and University Appropriation
Collection place:
Tesuque Pueblo, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
Verbatim coll. place:
New Mexico
Culture or time period:
Tesuque
Collector:
Mrs. H. R. Gardner
Collection date:
ca. 1910
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Figurines and Pottery
Function:
5.7 Objects made for sale, souvenirs, models, and reproductions
Accession date:
1947
Context of use:
This is a clay idol of a Tesuque rain god (muna), a small palm-sized figure with a strong presence in tourist trade in the late 19th century as a part of salvage ethnography, with the expectation that indigenous culture was going to completely die. Santa Fe was at the center of all things related to Pueblo art. There were uses for rain gods aside from tourism, but none of them are documented. Despite that many early anthropologists thought of them as cheap and not representative of pre-contact culture, clay idols and their connection with agricultural fertility were well-established in Pueblo culture before contact with Spanish people. Though they were called rain gods in English, they were much more akin to a Pueblo clown that mocked Spanish customs that were outlandish from a Pueblo perspective. They are made with a number of facial expressions and in a number of body positions, they usually are holding a vase. They were also sold with candy by the Gunther Candy Company in Chicago. Regarding their authenticity, they are similar to the Mickey Mouse katsina doll. Black rain gods are very rare (only 17 ever collected) and four were collected by George Pepper and donated to PAHMA. They are more detailed than cream-slipped or micaceous-slipped specimens. White and red paint are frequently used for detail and they are unpolished.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
height 17.8 centimeters
Comment:
Remarks: "Ethnographic; transf. from 3-11124".This is a clay idol of a Tesuque rain god (muna), a small palm-sized figure with a strong presence in tourist trade in the late 19th century as a part of salvage ethnography, with the expectation that indigenous culture was going to completely die. Santa Fe was at the center of all things related to Pueblo art. There were uses for rain gods aside from tourism, but none of them are documented. Despite that many early anthropologists thought of them as cheap and not representative of pre-contact culture, clay idols and their connection with agricultural fertility were well-established in Pueblo culture before contact with Spanish people. Though they were called rain gods in English, they were much more akin to a Pueblo clown that mocked Spanish customs that were outlandish from a Pueblo perspective. They are made with a number of facial expressions and in a number of body positions, they usually are holding a vase. They were also sold with candy by the Gunther Candy Company in Chicago. Regarding their authenticity, they are similar to the Mickey Mouse katsina doll. Black rain gods are very rare (only 17 ever collected) and four were collected by George Pepper and donated to PAHMA. They are more detailed than cream-slipped or micaceous-slipped specimens. White and red paint are frequently used for detail and they are unpolished.