Three Corn Maiden Sisters

Vickie Quandelacy created these tall corn maiden sisters on a conch shell and there is so much to see!  Starting with the left side of the opening of the shell there are two carved turquoise and one apple coral corns that are nestled inside etched corn leaves.  Just inside the shell is a dragonfly and a star.  The maiden on the right side of the opening has an engraved feather on her head and an inlaid jet and mouth, and inlaid elements of turquoise, coral, and jet.

Moving to the right around the shell, there are dragonflies and stars that continue to the opening.  The next maiden has a gold lip Mother of Pearl face, inlaid jet eyes and mouth, and elements of turquoise and coral inlaid on the front.  Her sister next to her also has jet inlaid eyes and mouth, with apple coral, turquoise, and jet on her body.

The shell is signed on the bottom.

Size: 5" H x 4.25" Diameter

Female corn beings represent all that is good about being a woman: loving, generous, nurturing, kind, strong with great compassion.  In tribes that traditionally grow corn, most of the stories are the similar.  There are many Indigenous stories about how corn was brought to the people at a time when there was hunger, and how a sacred, sometimes other worldly, female being brought them corn.  In Zuni Pueblo, there are three ages of female corn beings: the maiden who wears her hair in the traditional buns on each side, the mother who has one or more babies, and the elder grandmother who wears her shawl over her head. There are dances to honor the female corn beings in many of the Pueblos.  And in other tribes, she is held in a place of great honor.

Traditionally, Zuni carvings are symbolically fed cornmeal.   Each Zuni fetish comes in a box with a descriptive card and a tiny bit of corn meal to tide them over until they reach you.