Amber Maiden by Raymond Tsalate

An outstanding plump large maiden carved from a cream and gray streaked piece of antler with pen shell slit style inlaid eyes and coral mouth with. Carved by Ray Tsalate - this lovely maiden was delivered to Sunshine in early May of 2023 - we love the detail in the hair - this hairstyle is called the squash blossom whorl, and it is the traditional hairstyle for unmarried girls in the Hopi tribe . Ray has put the porous brown marrow area on the front of the maiden's dress/matta with the only embellishment in this area being the eleven dot hand made necklace composed of two spiny oyster, two green serpentine, two lapis, two spiny oyster beads - five dots are inlaid on each side of the turquoise pendant in the center. The pièce de résistance is the eight spiny oyster and eight Japanese pink coral hand made dots inlaid on top of the sixteen lapis slip/paste inlaid triangles - located near the edge of the maiden's kilt worn like a shawl. On the back of the kilt are three pipestone star bursts inlaid with one dot at their centers utilizing hand made dots made from lapis, green serpentine and turquoise. Maidens symbolize abundance, fertility and feminine energy and the corn maiden is venerated in Zuni for giving up her life for the health of the community. Artist: Raymond Tsalate (signed) Size: 1-3/4 in. wide x 1-1/4 in. deep x 2-1/2 in. tall #60475