Hermon Atkins MacNeil

(American, 1866-1947)

The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes), modeled 1895-96; cast ca. 1897

bronze with brown patina

inscribed H.A. MACNEIL Sc and Fond. Nelli Roma. (on the base); also inscribed THE RETVRNING OF THE SNAKES (along the base); also inscribed THE MOQVI / PRAYER·FOR·RAIN (on the base)

Height: 22 1/2 in.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Provenance:

(possibly) Clyde C. Trees (1885-1960), New York (owner of the Medallic Art Company, New York).

James Graham & Sons, New York.

Sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, October 4, 1977, Lot 122.

Wolf Family Collection, No. 0185, acquired at the above sale.

Sale, Sotheby's, New York, April 20, 2023, Lot 304.

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Exhibited:

Denver, Denver Art Museum, 2003-2013 (on long-term loan).

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American West in Bronze, 1850-1925, December 18, 2013-April 13, 2014, and elsewhere, cat. no. 28, figs. 46-47, pp. 38-40, illustrated.

Denver, Denver Art Museum, 2014-23 (on long-term loan).

Lot Essay:

During a visit to northern Arizona in late August of 1895, Hermon Atkins MacNeil observed the Moqui, currently known as the Hopi, people’s annual prayer for rain at the top of the Mesa at Oraibi. The ceremony took place over the course of nine days, wherein the male participants would undergo purification rites and gather a variety of snakes from the four nautical directions. For the Moqui people, snakes

symbolized the lightning that brought rain to their arid

climate. At the peak of the performance, the participants concluded the sacred dance by grabbing handfuls of snakes and sprinting down the trail from the mesa to the plain, so that their prayers for rain would be answered. MacNeil was so enthralled by the ritual that he produced The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes) to re-create the experience in bronze for others to witness firsthand. The work depicts a partially-nude Native furiously running down the mesa, balanced on one foot with several cactus in his trail, furiously rushing to release the tangle snakes grasped in each hand and entangled in his hair, hoping to fulfill his prayer for rain and ensure a good growing season. Technically, the work is a marvel of MacNeil's mechanical prowess and sculptural genius.

The same year MacNeil witnessed the ceremony, he won the prestigious Rinehart Scholarship which funded four years study in Rome, and he completed the model during this study. The following year, the artist commissioned the Nelli Foundry to cast a short run of less than ten examples, of which are in the holdings of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. MacNiel submitted The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes) to the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, where he was awarded a silver medal.

Hermon Atkins MacNeil (American, 1866-1947)

Hermon Atkins MacNeil (American, 1866-1947)

The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes), modeled 1895-96; cast ca. 1897