Edward Curtis Print with Ink Signature. CURTIS, EDWARD S. 1868-1952. Hopi Snake Dance, c.1904. Photo-mechanical print, signed in the negative ('Curtis') with signature in ink lower right ('Curtis', possibly in another hand?), in a period frame. 13 x 17 1/4 in. (33 x 43.8 cm) Overall 17 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. (45.1 x 55.2 cm) Provenance: From the Collection of Dr. Billy T. Utley. The image appeared in Volume XII of The North American Indian. The Hopi, a society of farmers who primarily lived southeast of the Grand Canyon near the Painted Desert, were dependent on water during the summer monsoons to irrigate corn and other crops. The Snake Dance was a ritual during which they would pray for rain. Curtis was allowed to watch the ceremony in 1900, after which he wrote ''I was profoundly moved, and realized if I was to fully understand its significance, I must participate if permission could be obtained.' He asked the chief of the Hopi Snake Society, a man named Sikyaletstiwa, if he might learn the ways of the fraternity and participate--with the goal of shooting pictures... The answer--forget it' (Timothy Egan, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, pp.53-54). He photographed the ceremony for the first time in 1904, and then in 1906, he was granted permission by Sikyaletstiwa, who agreed to let him go with the priests to gather diamondback rattlesnakes to be brought to a kiva, and to participate in the dance. Lot to be sold without reserve. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Unless indicated by the ¤ symbol next to the lot number (or bearing an explicit statement such as 'No Reserve' or 'Without Reserve'), which denotes no reserve, all lots in the catalog are subject to a reserve. The reserve is the minimum hammer price that the seller is willing to accept for a lot. This amount is confidential and does not exceed the low estimate value. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing