Cochiti Pueblo Painted Hide & Wood Drum

Native American, Cochiti Pueblo. A Pueblo drum made from a hollowed wooden log, with hide heads at both ends drawn tight by long hide thongs that zigzag down the body. The adze-faceted barrel is painted with tall, interlocking lobes of bright yellow and brick red. The scalloped tongues of hide that hold the lacing follow the same rhythm, so the construction becomes part of the pattern. The upper head carries a painted design in black, red, and ochre: a swirling winged figure, perhaps a bird, with stepped terrace motifs, scrolls, and fringed feather-like ends. The tool marks on the shell are left visible beneath the paint. A small sound hole is cut through the wall. Drums like this keep time for Pueblo dances, and the form was also made for collectors and outside buyers. Cochiti Pueblo is a Keresan-speaking community on the Rio Grande, southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is the Pueblo most closely tied to the double-headed log drum, and Cochiti drum makers have long supplied drums to neighboring Pueblos as well as to visitors and dealers. Making a drum means hollowing a section of log, traditionally cottonwood or aspen, and wetting rawhide heads so they shrink tight as they dry. The heads are laced to each other with thongs cut from the same hide. Drum makers tighten or loosen the lacing to tune the pitch. The painted barrel, often banded in bold contrasting colors as here, became a recognizable feature of Cochiti work during the 20th century. Over the same decades Cochiti artists also became widely known for figurative pottery, especially the storyteller figure. In the drum, as in the pottery, a functional object meant for the dance plaza also found a ready audience beyond it. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 206283

Estimate:$500

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