Hopi Dance Sash with Embroidered Ends by Jack Pavinyouma [SOLD]

These wide sashes, such as the one made by Jack Pavinyouma, are often seen on dancers during Katsina dances at Hopi Pueblo. They have not changed in style appreciably since the late 1800s. James Stevenson collected an example in 1879 that is the same as those seen today. They are woven on a narrow upright loom in two identical pieces, each approximately 4 feet long and 10 inches wide. When completed, their undecorated upper ends are lashed together to make a long sash.

The two ends have been elaborately patterned by a technique known as “Hopi brocade” although it is technically not true brocade. The name was assigned in 1938 by Frederic H. Douglas and has been retained since. According to Kate Peck Kent, it is a curious process and may be a Pueblo invention, unlike anything known from other cultures.

The embroidered ends contain rain symbols.  The paired vertical lines with hooks represent a dragonfly, which is associated with water. The red lozenge shape are flowers. The red borders show the sash is from Third Mesa. According to one Hopi informant, young Hopi men are given a kilt, belt, and sash by their godfathers when they are initiated into manhood.

This sash was entered in the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Hopi Craftsman Exhibition in 1970.  This sash was awarded Second Prize at that time.

Condition: this Dance Sash with Hopi Pueblo Embroidered Ends by Jack Pavinyouma is in excellent condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Albuquerque

Recommended Reading: Rain: Native Expressions From the American Southwest by Ann Marshall

Relative Links: Pueblo Textiles, Jack Pavinyouma, Hopi Pueblo, Dance Paraphernalia, Katsina