Kachina Doll (Paalhikmana)
Arts of the Americas
MEDIUM
Cottonwood root, acrylic pigment, feathers, yarn, beads
DATES
1960–1970
DIMENSIONS
19 x 10 x 5 1/2 in. (48.3 x 25.4 x 14 cm)
(show scale)
SIGNATURE
H. Shelton on the bottom
ACCESSION NUMBER
2010.6.6
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Edith and Hershel Samuels
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Butterfly Girl (Palhikmana) Kachina. This Kachina has a body carved from one piece of cottonwood root. She wears a large, rayed headdress painted brilliantly with blue, yellow and red stripes and black dots that indicate pollen on the front. The back of the headdress is red with a cluster of feathers on the back of her head and three braided yarns, one each, red, green, white hanging down the back. She stands on both feet and raises her PR arm holding two feathers in each hand. Her clothing is also all carved. She wears a blue dress with darker blue apron with red and green bands on the bottom and a red sash with a broken diamond pattern. She has a short white shawl with red edges around her PL shoulder. Butterfly Girl appears during Angk'wa (night dances). It is a series of colorful dances usually performed with four pairs of maidens and male partners (all kachinas portrayed by males). The Angk'wa is sponsored by a kiva to promote all life-growth.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Henry Shelton (1929–2016). Kachina Doll (Paalhikmana), 1960–1970. Cottonwood root, acrylic pigment, feathers, yarn, beads, 19 x 10 x 5 1/2 in. (48.3 x 25.4 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edith and Hershel Samuels, 2010.6.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2010.6.6.jpg)
IMAGE
overall,
CUR.2010.6.6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.