Hopi Pueblo Square Pottery Tile with Three Horn Katsina Image [SOLD]

The Payik’ala - Three Horn Katsina appears in the Mixed Dance. Barton Wright says that there are Hopi who remember this Katsina being danced at Third Mesa before 1906. This is a good representation of this Katsina, and it is in very good condition. Harold S. Colton states that it was introduced from Zuni to First Mesa in 1921.

The Kachina has a black band across his eyes, three horns sticking upward from his mask and is bare chested.  He carries a bow in his left hand and a gourd rattle in his right.  The artist has presented a very good likeness of the Katsina.

Alberta Adams is listed in Gregg Schaaf’s book Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies but only the statement “active 1980-present: polychrome wedding vases, bowls” is included for her.  She is not mentioned at all in Messiers’ book Hopi & Pueblo Tiles so there seems to be little biographical information on her as a potter even though she is acknowledged as having produced since 1980. 

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the extensive Native American collection of a family from Oklahoma

References and Recommended Reading:

-        Colton, Harold S., Hopi Kachina Dolls, with a Key to Their Identification

-        Schaaf, Gregory, Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies

-        Wright, Barton, Kachinas a Hopi Artist’s Documentary