Paqua (Frog) Hopi Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This is probably a Water Clan Katsina, although he could be a Coming-to-the-Clowns Katsina, and he appears in dances like the Pig, Goat and Mouse Katsinas.

This Katsina is supposed to have originated at Shungopavi in the late 1960s. During a dance, rasping noises were heard coming from a huge box covered with painted paper. During a pause in the dance, the paper broke and the Frog Katsina hopped out. This is the first instance of its appearance.

Lowell Talashoma was one of the first carvers at Shungopavi in the late 1970s that perfected the art of carving katsinas from a single piece of cottonwood root. He became very well known as one of the top 10 carvers on the reservation.

It appears that everything of this carving is from a single piece of cottonwood root except for the feathers on the frog’s head. Although the carving is probably 20 years old, it is in original excellent condition.