Elsie Benally, Woman and Baby upon a Horse

A Mud Toy by Navajo artist Elsie Benally, featuring a Navajo woman holding a tiny papoose in her arms. She’s riding a dark chestnut pony with a flaxen mane. The woman is wearing a blue shirt and skirt and turquoise jewelry. 1980s - 1990s, clay, paint, wool and fabric, 2 ½ x 5 ½ x 4 ½ inches.

Mud Toys, sunbaked clay figures decorated with paint, fabric scraps, and wool, are an art form revived by Elsie Benally and Mamie Deschellie in the 1980s in Farmington New Mexico. on the edge of the Navajo Reservation. Elsie’s figures often depict animals wrapped in homespun wool, with sweet whimsical faces, or horses or circus animals ridden by Navajos decked out in fine clothing, and sometimes riding double with children or small animals. This small sculpture is beautifully made, with sweetly painted details.