**Originally Listed At $300**

Jerry Ted Toledo (Navajo, 20th century). (1) "Eagle Dance" and (2) "Hoop Dance" sand paintings, 1975. Each signed on verso with title and date. A wonderful pair of sand paintings by Navajo artist Jerry Ted Toledo, titled "Eagle Dance" and "Hoop Dance." Full of movement, each figure is dynamically posed and dressed in a costume respective to their dance; the eagle dancer with a bird head-shaped cap, wide-spanning wings and flared tail feathers, while the hoop dancer is adorned with bells, rattles, and a loincloth. Both dances serve important roles in numerous Native American tribes. The Eagle Dance differs depending on the tribe, but it normally shows the eagle's life cycle from birth to death and functions as a way to ask for rain, peace, or a cure from illness since eagles were believed to fly close to the Great Spirit and therefore can convey messages to them. Size of painting: 11.5" W x 15.5" H (29.2 cm x 39.4 cm); with frame: 18" W x 21.75" H (45.7 cm x 55.2 cm)

Alternatively, the hoop dance was typically a show dance featuring a dozen or more hoops as they form a variety of moves and poses. The hoops are believed to symbolize the never-ending cycle of life.

Sand paintings are also called dry paintings for obvious reasons, and in the Navajo language the word for this genre translates as "places where the gods come and go." Sand paintings are used in healing ceremonies in which the chanter selects the painting(s) that will best serve to heal the patient. According to the Navajo belief system, a sandpainting heals because the imagery simultaneously attracts and exalts the sacred Holy People. The painting serves as a pathway or channel for the mutual exchange of illness and the Holy People's healing power. (GriffinPierce 1992:43).

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, acquired before 2010

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#183320

Both set in custom frames with suspension wires on versos for display; have not been examined outside of glass. Some abrasions and expected wear to frames with dead insects on interior of glass on both. Otherwise, sand paintings are in very good overall condition.