Navajo Folk Art:Elsie Benally Halloween Witch on Horse

Very rare mud toy of a Halloween witch riding a gray horse, by Navajo folk artist Elsie Benally. The piece is in excellent condition and measures 6” h x 4 1/4” L. Elsie is one of two Navajo artists who independently revived the art of making "mud toys" in the 1980s. These toys are shaped by hand from native clay and then dried in the sun. Elsie then paints each piece and adds other features such as hair, for which she uses sheep wool of various natural colors. Elsie appears in the essential book on Navajo folk art, ”Navajo Folk Art, the People Speak”, by Chuck and Jan Rosenak. She is also included in numerous museum collections, including the Smithsonian. I am an avid Navajo folk art collector and purchased this piece directly from Elsie at her home near Sweetwater, Arizona. Mud toys are fragile pieces of art: packaging will be done with great care.