Eagle Dancer - Coolidge Roy, Jr. Hopi Katsina Doll
Coolidge Roy Jr. and his wife Juanita live on Third Mesa in Oraibi, Arizona. Coolidge has long been famous for his magnificently beautiful Eagle Dancer Kachina dolls. Coolidge's father, Coolidge Roy, Sr., was a carver, too, as are his brothers and sons.
Coolidge was born on August 4, 1950 and has been carving for well over 30 years. His work is well known and can be recognized easily because of his unique style. One of the most noticeable aspects of his carvings is the "natural" coloration that he achieves by using only very faint pigments.
Other fine examples of Coolidge's work can be found in most books on Hopi art including Hopi Kachina Dolls and their Carvers by Theda Bassman and Erik Bromberg's The Hopi Approach to the Art of Kachina Doll Carving. Coolidge makes two different modes of eagle dancers, the detailed one, like the one shown here, and a simple stance.
In Barton Wright's book, Kachinas - A Hopi Artist's Documentary, we read:
(The Eagle) dance is not as common as it might have been at one time, and you might have the satisfaction of occasionally seeing a performance "in one of the night ceremonies in March or during the Powamu."
"Usually the personator imitates the step or motion and cry of the eagle to absolute perfection. There is evidence that this kachina was imported into Zuni from the Hopi and is danced there in much the same manner that it is at Hopi.
This may be why the Eagle may appear during Pamuya on First Mesa with Zuni Kachinas."
Item No.: KD.0005
Artist: Coolidge Roy, Jr.
Size: 6 1/4 in H
Price: 850
