Hopi Unfinished Kokosori Katsina Doll [SOLD]

Lowell Talashoma, Sr. has always been one of the finest carvers on the Hopi Reservation. He prided himself on good form, good musculature, and carving the complete doll from a single piece of cottonwood root. The doll got knocked off the work bench and broke at the foot.  Lowell set it aside with no intentions of finishing it.  I asked Lowell if he was interested in selling it to me because I was so impressed with the form and proportion of the body, all accomplished with a pocketknife. I find it fascinating that a carver can pick up a round piece of cottonwood root and carve a human body in such accurate proportion using only a pocketknife.

I glued the foot, did not replace the ear, and kept the carving that I had purchased from Lowell around 1979 or 1980. This is an excellent example for someone who wishes to see the beginning of a doll rather than a completed Katsina Doll.

Condition: Lowell’s son knocked the doll off the table and the left foot broke and the left ear broke off.  Lowell did not intend to finish the doll after it was broken.

Recommended Reading: Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures by Barton Wright. 

Provenance: Alexander E. Anthony, Jr. since 1979 or 1980.