SAND PAINTINGS

Are these purely tourist items? some have legends on back, one is signed Begay Are these anything other than tourist pieces Thank you

 

Sand paintings like this are all made for sale, primarily for the tourist market. Some are based loosely on images from the real sand paintings done for ceremonies. Those, however, are made right on the ground, and destroyed as part of the ceremony.

Some of the "legends" on the back of these have a basis in truth, others I've seen are just examples of what the artist thinks the buyer wants to hear, and what will help the sale. Don't believe everything that's on the internet...or written on a souvenir!

That said, there are a few noted artists whose sand paintings are well-done, intricate, and sell well.

 

There are lots of Begay's....but worth a search.

 

Begay is more common than Smith. It's a Navajo name. These look like Hopi dancers so you can tell they are for the tourist market. I have a sand painting in a frame that my sister-in-law bought decades ago in Arizona. It's really nice, but as Taupou said, real sand paintings are not framed and sold.

 

thank you all, always felt they are tourist items, but good to know for sure. will research Begay.

 

Just to save some time searching through all those Begays, Tom Begay, from Sweetwater, is the noted sand painter. I've sold some of his work, I think the last one was a framed piece, about 16 x 20, that went for around $250. His work is distinctively different from the usual sand paintings found on the secondary market, and is shown in the book "Navajo Folk Art" by Chuck and Jan Rosenak.

As to the images on these, the first picture appears to be an Apache Gaan dancer, or Crown Dancer. The two figures in the middle photos are Navajo Yei figures. They are the holy figures of the Navajo culture/religion. Not to be confused with the Yeibechai, who are the masked Navajo dancers who portray the Yei in ceremonies. The last sand painting depicts a Navajo Yeibechai dancer. Yeibechai are usually shown in profile, with blue heads, representing the masks they wear.

Like in their other craft work, the Navajo feel free to borrow images from other cultures in their sand paintings made for the souvenir market. I've seen sand paintings of Acoma pottery, Zia sun faces, Taos pueblo, and Mickey Mouse...so the image depicted isn't always connected at all with the Navajo. But as far as I know, other cultures haven't started producing "sand paintings" for sale (although I wouldn't be surprised to see some from China showing up, if there would be a market for them!)

 

THANK YOU Taupou so much, have catalogued what you told me, so my daughter wont have to spend days researching (when that time comes If I havent sold them in the meantime) have researched this one, but cant find any info on internet so maybe a crafter piece?