Coolidge Roy
Jr.
Eagle Dancer
10 3/4"
H w/ 1 3/4" base
(11 1/2" wingspan)
Coolidge Roy Jr. and his wife
Juanita live on Third Mesa in Oraibi, Arizona. Coolidge has long
been famous for his magnificently beautiful Eagle Dancer Kachina
dolls.
Coolidge's father was a carver,
too, as are his brothers and sons. Other fine examples of Coolidge's
work can be found in most books on Hopi art including Hopi
Kachina Dolls and their carvers by Theda Bassman and Erik
Bromberg's The Hopi Approach to the Art of Kachina Doll Carving.
He was born on August 4, 1950
and has been carving for well over 30 years. His work is well
known and can be recognized easily because of his unique style.
One of the most noticeable aspects of his carvings is the "natural"
coloration that he achieves by using only very faint pigments.
He likens his experise unto
a professor or doctor who has spent their whole life learning
their profession, and it shows in his work.
Coolidge has a lot of respect
for his tradition and is extremely sensitive to it. He will not
carve certain figure who "the elders" have warned against
- concerned that it might bring misfortune to a friend or family
member.
"Most of the time, when
I am carving," he said, "I sing a song, a special song
for each carving. The songs that I sing are the songs the Kachinas
dance to. It's their song."
He also has a tradition of
gathering up his shavings and taking them to a special place
where he leaves them and lets the wind carry them away.
His eagles are probably the
most popular of his carvings, and he creates them in two styles
- the highly detailed, and the simple stance.
This piece is obviously one
of the "detailed" pieces, as each individual wing feather
has been given special attention. The curvature of the wings
is one of his most impressive traits. Even the Hopi sashes seem
to be flowing in the wind as the Eagle makes his rounds upon
the mesa.
This dance is not as common
as it might have been at one time, and according to Barton Wright's
Kachinas: a Hopi Artist's Documentary, you might have
the satisfaction of occassionally seeing a performance "in
one of the night ceremonies in March or during the Powamu."
"Usually the personator
imitates the step or motion and cry of the eagle to absolute
perfection. There is evidence that this kachina was imported
into Zuni from the Hopi and is danced there in much the same
manner that it is at Hopi.
This may be why the Eagle
may appear during Pamuya on First Mesa with Zuni Kachinas."
(87)
