Hopi Pueblo Tasap All Wood Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This Hopi Pueblo Tasap Katsina doll dates to no later than circa 1960, perhaps as early as 1945.  It is an all-wood carving with water-based paints, horse hair hanging from the right ear, and feathers going up the left side of the face and over the top of the face.  The arms and hands are tucked to the body.  He wears a painted squash blossom necklace, a painted Hopi kilt,painted moccasins and brown painted lines on the torso and arms and also on the legs.  The left foot has been repaired.

Tasap is a Hopi representation of a Navajo God. There are Hopi versions of katsinam that honor and depict other tribes, such as the Navajo, Havasupai, Comanche, Zuni and other Pueblos.

This is the Hopi version of what the Navajo katsinam might look like, if the Navajo had katsinas, which they do not. These katsinam are not borrowed from the Navajo, as they are unique to the Hopi. They have the same purpose and functions as all Hopi katsinam. They are messengers and/or intermediaries to the rain gods. Since they are katsinam in every respect, they are afforded the same reverence and dignity during their visits.

Condition: very good condition with one repaired foot

Provenance: this Hopi Pueblo Tasap All Wood Katsina Doll is from the collection of private individual

Recommended Reading: Kachinas: a Hopi Artist’s Documentary by Barton Wright with original paintings by Cliff Bahnimptewa.

Relative Links: Kachina – Katsina Doll, Hopi Pueblo