Forging America: The Wolf Family Collection
Forging America: The Wolf Family Collection
The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes)
Auction Closed
April 20, 05:26 PM GMT
Estimate
70,000 - 100,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Hermon Atkins MacNeil
1866 - 1947
The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes)
inscribed H.A. MACNEIL Sc and Fond. Nelli Roma. (on the base); inscribedTHE RETVRNING OF THE SNAKES (along the base); inscribed THE MOQVI / PRAYER·FOR·RAIN (on the base)
bronze
22 in. (55.9 cm.) high
Conceived in 1895-96; this example cast circa 1897.
James Graham & Sons, New York
Sotheby Parke-Bernet New York, October 4, 1977, lot 122
Wolf Family Collection No. 0185 (acquired from the above)
During a visit to northern Arizona in 1895, Hermon Atkins MacNeil observed the Moqui people’s annual prayer for rain at the top of the Mesa at Oraibi. The ceremony concluded with the participants carrying live snakes to the plain so that their prayers would be answered. MacNeil was so inspired by the ritual that he produced The Moqui Prayer for Rain to capture the movement and fervor of the event.
The sculptor completed the model in Rome, at which point the Nelli Foundry cast a short run of less than ten examples. It is believed that there are six casts in existence today.
You May Also Like