Hopi Very Large Palhikmana Katsina Doll by Walter Howato
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- Category: Traditional
- Origin: Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu
- Medium: wood, pigment, metal stand
- Size: 26” tall x 11-¾” width of tableta;
includes metal stand - Item # C4670G
- Price: $2250
Walter Howato was a Hopi Pueblo artist who created a unique style of katsina doll carvings which are immediately recognizable. His katsina dolls appear to be very old, however most of them were made after 1960. He arrived at such a distressed appearance in the following manner:
"His first step was to create his own paints by mixing tuuma (Hopi clay undercoat) with poster paints. Then, he would apply the first coat to the cottonwood root. Once the paint dried, he would take a ‘clean, wet brush to remove a bit [of paint] here and there.' He would repeat this process three or four times to produce the worn, antique look." [Walsh, 2019:140]
This Howato carving of a Palhikmana Katsina is unique in several ways. First, at 26 inches, it is much larger than katsina dolls normally made to be sold to collectors. Second, it displays female genitalia, and third, it features articulating arms. Zuni Pueblo katsina dolls often display articulating arms, but rarely do Hopi carvers do so. The painted portions of the doll are deliberately faint in color, another trait of older dolls.
Howato had no intent to pass off his carvings as being ancient. He made them as he remembered the old dolls hanging in his mother's house. [ibid]
The katsina doll will stand independently, however, because of the height, a metal stand has been made for more secure standing.
Condition: very good condition
Provenance: this Hopi Very Large Palhikmana Katsina Doll by Walter Howato is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery
Reference: The Great Tradition of Hopi Katsina Carvers 1880 to Present, by Barry Walsh, Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson. 2019
TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, R.C. Gorman, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Katsina dolls, Jimmy Koots, Romando Vigil, Tse Ye Mu, Manfred Susunkewa, Jimmy Kewanwytewa (Jimmy K), Walter Howato
- Category: Traditional
- Origin: Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu
- Medium: wood, pigment, metal stand
- Size: 26” tall x 11-¾” width of tableta;
includes metal stand - Item # C4670G
- Price: $2250
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