Fetish
CultureRio Grande Pueblo, New Mexico
Dateca. 1800
MediumStone, turquoise, and traces of native pigment
DimensionsOverall: 2 3/4 × 1 3/4 × 1 1/4 inches (6.99 × 4.45 × 3.18 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: Donald D. Jones Fund for American Indian Art
Object number2004.8.1,2
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 207
Collections
DescriptionSmall carving of white stone depicting human torso with upturned abstracted head. Two small pieces of inlaid turquoise above rudimentary depiction of the arms; incised zig-zag lines on lower front.Gallery LabelFetishes are objects, either natural or man-made, which are believed to possess spiritual power capable of affecting individuals' lives. This small fetish represents a human figure, presumably a female, with breasts inlaid with turquoise and incised lightning on the lower torso. Made of softly glowing, translucent stone, the material evokes the appearance of a towering, light-filled thundercloud-a direct reference to rain and all that it provided. Fetishes were initially an integral part of religious observances intended to ensure good health, fertility, rain and bountiful crops, successful hunting, and other blessings of life. While fetishes are still maintained, and newly created, by traditional Pueblo peoples today, carvers began to produce fetishes for the tourist market during the early decades of the 20th century.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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