Southwestern Spirits

These unusual and beautiful limited edition lithographs depict traditional Hope Kachina dancers.  The Hopi people believe that Kachinas are personifications of the natural and spiritual worlds. A Kachina can represent plants such as beans or corn, living creatures, natural phenomena such as rain or wind, heavenly bodies, revered ancestors, or other physical or spiritual concepts. They are the links between mortal people and the spiritual world and must be treated with veneration. In return, the Kachinas can aid humans, such as bringing rain for the crops or ensuring a bountiful harvest. In ceremonial observances, men dress as Kachinas; each Kachina can be identified by its signature mask and costume. Kachina dolls or figurines were originally carved by Hopi artisans and during the ceremonial dances given to children to teach them about the different Kachinas, although many are now created for collectors and the tourist trade.

In 1904, artist and sculptor Joseph J. Mora (1876-1947) lived among the Hopi and Navajo tribes in Arizona and New Mexico, learning their languages and using his artistic skills to document their rituals. This included a series of detailed watercolors depicting Hopi men dressed as Kachina dancers.  In the mid-1990s, John Wilson purchased 40 of Mora's watercolors and planned to issue limited edition lithographs of the paintings. However, due to financial constraints, only eight lithographs were issued in limited editions of 650 each.

These are two of the lithographs issued by Wilson, both marked in pencil "126/650." This one represents She-Eu-Heu-Mish, also known as Sio Hemis, identified by his colorful tableta or headdress decorated with stylized dragonflies and sunflower. This Kachina takes part in the Niman Ceremony. It is also known as the Home or Going Home Dance and signals the end of the Kachina season. He is considered an important rain spirit. 

This lithograph depicts another Kachina who appears in the Niman Ceremony, Heu-Mish-Kachina-Mana, or the Hemis Maiden. Her hairstyle is that worn by unmarried Hopi women. She is a music maker, using a notched stick and hollow gourd to provide rhythmic accompaniment to the dancers.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

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4061-523

Rare Bird

This wonderful watercolor is a dramatic portrait of a bird of prey known as the common buzzard, but there is nothing common about this avian artwork.  It is a watercolor by British naturalist William Lewin (1747–1795) and is an illustration from his The Birds of Great Britain, with Their Eggs, Accurately Figured.  

Lewin began to issue the book in 1789, the result of twenty years of work and research.  Limited to a subscription of 60, each volume of the first edition contained 323 watercolors of birds and their eggs.  Lewin, a meticulous and skilled artist, painted each illustration for the entire first edition, a total of 19,380 individual paintings.  

Therefore this magnificent bird is one of original flock of 60.  One wonders how many survived over the past 230 years.

The book was so popular, Lewin, assisted by his three sons, began work on a second edition, this time using hand-colored etchings inscribed by Lewin.  This allowed a larger printing of 150 copies, which were issued in eight volumes from 1793 to 1801.  Lewin died in 1795, having engraved the plates for volumes one to three and his sons completed the illustrations for the remaining volumes. 

Sadly,  because of the beauty of its watercolors, the first editions were broken up by collectors and dealers for the individual illustrations, many of which have been lost or destroyed over time.  The second edition also suffered similar poaching of its beautiful bird illustrations and less than 30 complete examples are known to exist.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

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