Pair of Women’s Wood Dance Wands [SOLD]

Dance wands are part of women’s ceremonial paraphernalia.  They are rectangular wood tablets with a handle at one end.  When used in dances, one wand is carried vertically in each hand.  On one side of the wand is painted a figure of a rain god or other ceremonial personage.  Rain clouds hover above the figure and a corn symbol is below. There are two holes drilled at the top corners of the wand from which downy feathers are tied.  A series of parallel lines is painted on the backs.

Wands of this style are used by women at Zuni and Hopi and generally it is difficult to distinguish between the two pueblos.  This pair appears to be from Zuni based on the image on the front, which appears to be a Thunderbird, a symbol seen frequently at Zuni Pueblo.

This pair of wands was made from crate wood, not plywood, and probably date to circa 1940s.

Condition: very good condition with minor paint loss

Recommended Reading: Ceremonial Costumes of the Pueblo Indians, Their Evolution, Fabrication, and Significance in the Prayer Drama, by Virginia More Roediger

Provenance: from a gentleman in Santa Fe