The Left Handed Katsina is so called because he carries his bow in his right hand rather than in his left. In fact, he generally does everything backwards. The reason for this is not clear. The Hopi say he came to them from the Chemehuevi Indians. He appears quite frequently in a great many dances, like the Mixed Kachina, in groups in the kivas or separately as a warrior in the Powamu Ceremony. He may act as a prompter in a dance or be found making odd little bows and taking small mincing steps at the edge of a procession.  A great deal of the time he has trouble with Hó-e when they appear in the same dance. - Wright 1973

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#adobegallery #HopiPueblo #Katsina #Kachina # #Doll #SouthwestIndianArt #PuebloArt #SantaFeNM

San Ildefonso Pueblo Artist Richard Martinez (1904-1987) Opa Mu Nu wrote the title of this painting on the back so it is not a title made up by us but one selected by the artist, so perhaps there is a Pueblo legend that supports this painting.  Montezuma is asking the game animals to make themselves available as food for the Pueblo peoples.  In the background are mountains, over which are a rainbow and partial sun.  It is signed in lower center.

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This chile bowl bears the name of Torivio Calabaza on the underside that was painted and fired in so it would be the name of the maker of the bowl.  A paper label on the base states a date of c1950s.  The bowl appears to have been made to sell and not for use at the pueblo. It has a modernist design of bars of black triangles and rectangles in mirror image offset to one side of the oval cream background.  The rim is black and has a ceremonial line break that penetrates the design panel completely.  The interior is polished red slip. 

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Jonathan Batkin once pointed out what should have been obvious had one taken the time to think about history.  There was no need for large dough bowls or for the outdoor ovens called horno prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.  The reason being that the Spaniards brought flour to the pueblos from which they made oven bread-thus the need for the bowl and for the oven.

Even though the Spaniards came in the late 1500s, it was close to the mid-1700s before the pueblo people accepted the white flour from the Spaniards.  Maybe it took 150 years for the pueblos to accept the change, but gradually they did.  Dough bowls seemed to appear at Zia Pueblo in the late 1700s.

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This pristine Zia Pueblo New Chile Bowl chile bowl is relatively new and has not been used for serving food.  It is in excellent original condition. If one looks at the white as the design, then it appears to be tulip-shaped.  If one looks at the brown as the painted design, then it appears to be a cloud.

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Zuni Pueblo potters, except for a few, have never been appreciated for outstanding application of design, unlike their closest neighbors, the Acoma potters.  Zuni clay is more porous than that at Acoma and more difficult to obtain a smooth egg-shell hard surface on which to paint designs.  The slip used does not appear to respond to a hard burnish, leaving a poorer surface on which to paint. 

It is recognized that, by 1920, there were only a dozen good potters at Zuni making excellent pottery.  Most other potters had been convinced by the new trader, C. G. Wallace, who opened a trading post at the pueblo in 1918, to make small beaded items.  He was reluctant to ship pottery so this was his solution.  He was purchasing over 600 beaded items daily at one point.  Pottery production suffered seriously because of Wallace's actions.

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Tse-Pé Gonzales (1940- 2000) was generally known by his singular name. His mother was Rose Gonzales, the potter who introduced carved blackware pottery to San Ildefonso Pueblo. Tse-Pé followed the tradition of carved pottery, but chose sgraffito carving rather than the deep carving of his mother's style. In the early 1970s, Tse-Pé was among the first potters to participate in the sgraffito movement, along with Tony Da, Popovi Da, Joseph Lonewolf, Art Cody and other male potters. Perhaps because pottery was traditionally a woman's craft, the sgraffito technique was adopted by males as a way not to produce woman's work.

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Bowls represent the lower half of the earth and, as such, represent the area where food is grown for nourishment of the people.  They are used for food preparation, for serving food, and for use as a lid or covering to be placed over another container for protection of the contents.  Such a concept adds immensely to our appreciation of what we normally consider as just a bowl.

This small bowl appears to have been sold before ever being used at the pueblo.  There is no evidence that it was used for serving food.  One explanation of the design on the exterior is "deer hooves" but that is probably just an interpretation that may or may not bear fruit.

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When we post an item of pottery as Contemporary, we do not mean to indicate that it is new, but that it dates to after 1940.  There has been considerable disagreement among scholars, dealers, and collectors about the end of the historic period and the beginning of the contemporary period in pueblo pottery production.  Earlier scholars, such as Francis Harlow, set the end of the historic period at 1880 to coincide with the arrival of the intercontinental train to New Mexico and its influence on pottery styles.  Others have set the end date of the historic period as 1920s because that was the beginning of the black-on-black pottery and publicity by the Museum of New Mexico on pueblo pottery.  Lastly, Jonathan Batkin selected 1940 as the end of the historic period which would set the beginning of the contemporary period at that time.  

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Zuni Pueblo artisans are known worldwide as phenomenal lapidary artisans and jewelry makers.  They are masters at cutting stones and fitting those stone-to-stone to form mosaic imagery in jewelry.  The three Knifewing images are imbedded into the silver band in a manner that the stones are smooth and level with the silver.

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Palhikmana is a female katsina or katsina maiden to whom is inscribed several functions.  She appears during Angk'wa as a Butterfly maiden or Corn-Grinding maiden.  She also appears in the performance of a special dance. 

Angk'wa is a ceremony which encompasses the entire month of March during which a series of night dances is performed in each Hopi village.  These rituals will continue until sometime in July when the katsinam season ends and the katsinam return to their home in the San Francisco Mountains.

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Qöqolo Katsinam appear in various colors representing the colors of the six directions-north, west, south, east, universe, and the underworld.  The Sikyaqölo is the yellow one and he "is the artist, practicing the art of agrarian culture and producing the colorful gifts that he brings for children at the Powanuya ceremony."  Secakuku 1995

Powamuya is a ceremony imploring the katsinam to appear among the Hopi for the benefit of life for all mankind.  It begins in February at sunrise when Ahöla blesses the village and prepares it for the arrival of the katsinam. 

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This bracelet is stamped NORA.  None of our reference books on jeweler's hallmarks lists anyone by that name.  Perhaps that is a first name, not a last name.  The bracelet was beautifully constructed and stamped.  It appears to be from ingot silver and has a significant thickness. 

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This Navajo-style bracelet is stamped with the name NORA, a name not found in any reference books relating to silversmiths.  The band appears to be from ingot silver, is wide and sturdy.  The stamping resembles Hopi silver overlay but is believed to be of Navajo origin.

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This bracelet appears to have been fashioned from ingot silver.  It is stamped Sterling and with the name NORA, a name not found in any reference books relating to silversmithing.  The design has the appearance of Hopi silver overlay work, but it is of Navajo origin.

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This wide silver band has raised diamond-shape protrusions running across the middle of the bracelet from end to end.  They were punched outward from the back of the bracelet.  The remaining designs were stamped from the front of the Wide Silver Band with Pyramidal Design bracelet.  The name LEO is stamped on the back.  The artisan has not been identified.

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This black-on-red Hopi Large Humpback Pottery Canteen is of the same shape as those seen in kivas a century ago, but it is beautifully decorated.  The upper half is decorated and the lower half is not.  There are two loop handles and a spout just below the decorated section.  The spout has a slight upturn in shape.  The bottom of the canteen is rounded, not flat, most likely to facilitate embedding it into the dirt floor. 

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It is not uncommon for dealers and traders to be asked if a certain design on pottery or textiles has a meaning.  Often, the answer is one of restraint as it is probable that designs were given meaning by early traders to add mysticism and intrigue, and those designs may or may not have had any meaning to the artisan.  It is quite likely that some designs do have meaning but, if so, those meanings remain as secrets to the members of the tribe as they are not indiscriminately divulged to those outside the tribe.

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This Navajo - Diné Sterling Silver Concha/Concho Belt consists of 8 oval Conchas/Conchos, 9 rectangular butterflies, and an oval buckle all strung on a black leather belt that is ¾-inch wide.  Each Concha/Concho is domed with a raised diamond shape at the center and stamping around the perimeter and with scalloped edges with stamping.  Each butterfly has repoussé rays radiating out from a raised center oval that is surrounded by minute stamping.  The buckle is similar in design to the Conchas/Conchos but slightly larger and with slightly different stamping.

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There is very little information published on Geronima Gachupin Medina (1892-1972) Ts'aadawei' other than she was born circa 1882 and began to be an active potter around 1910.  She was the wife of José Medina (1893-1970) and the mother of Eralia and Rosita Medina.  Her sisters were Trinidad Gachupin Medina and Reyes Gachupin Moquino/Pino.  The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK has one of her pots collected in 1939.  It is pictured in Figure 14.44 in The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Harlow and Lanman.  It is an unsigned jar but was most likely purchased from the potter.

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