**Originally Listed At $250**

Paul Coze (French/Serbian-American, 1903-1974). Snake Dance. Black and white photograph, n.d. A captivating photograph by ethnographic artist Paul Coze featuring a Hopi Snake Dance during the moment when the Snake Clan dancers line up opposite the Antelope Clan dancers, all in front of the kisi or snake pit, and chant; their deep tones seemingly emanating from the earth as they simultaneously shake handheld rattles and sway in place. At least a dozen non-Native spectators are gathered in the midground - a practice that was stopped by Snake dance practitioners in the 1950s. Size of photograph: 9.2" L x 4.4" W (23.4 cm x 11.2 cm) Size of frame: 12.8" L x 17.2" W (32.5 cm x 43.7 cm)

Paul Coze was an anthropologist, artist, and writer that was most notable as a French authority on Native Americans. Between 1928 and 1934, he made four trips across western Canada collecting ethnographic objects for the Musee d'Ethnographie in Paris and the Heye Foundation in New York. He settled in Phoenix Arizona in 1951 and created nine major pieces of public art in the city, most with Native themes.

According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, "The Hopi of northeastern Arizona are the only community to perform the Snake Dance. It is one of the most widely known ceremonies of the Pueblo peoples because during one part of the dance, each performer carries a live snake in his mouth. The snake is seen as a messenger to the underworld who can help assure abundant water and rainfall for crops."

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#174221

Fit with matte and frame with suspension wire on verso for display. A few minor nicks to frame. Has not been examined outside of frame but appears to be in overall excellent condition.