Hopi Pueblo Clown Puppet Koshare Katsina Doll Carving [SOLD]

This Hopi Pueblo katsina doll carving is a puppet Koshare clown that is probably from the late twentieth century.  His arms and legs are movable and operated with the string to perform antics.  He wears a sad face with his eyes drooping downward and his mouth curved down.  He is wearing a black fabric loin cloth and a painted black vest with red edging.

We have had puppet katsina dolls in the past, known to have been made by Henry Seeni and Jimmy Koots that reportedly were made in the 1950s and 1960s but they are of a different style from this one which we believe is from the late twentieth century and by a different person.

Condition: this Hopi Pueblo Clown Puppet Koshare Katsina Doll Carving is in very good condition with some paint abrasions

Provenance: from the collection of Dr. Florence Hawley Ellis of Albuquerque, passed to her daughter and then to her granddaughter, the current owner. Florence Hawley Ellis (1906–1991) worked as both an ethnologist and archaeologist teaching at the University of New Mexico in 1934, teaching courses on archaeology and cultural anthropology until her retirement in 1971. 

Recommended Reading: Clowns of the Hopi : Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers by Barton Wright

Relative Links: Hopi, Katsina-Kachina