Hopi Carving of a Clown “Smelly Moccasins” [SOLD]

Few carvers achieve the charm, detail, and effect that Marlin Pinto displays in his carvings, particularly of the Hopi-Tewa clown.  Here, he illustrates extraordinarily well the point of "smelly moccasins."  The clown is covering his nose with his arm as he holds the moccasin over his shoulder while simultaneously pulling on the moccasin on his right foot.

Clowns are irreverent comedians, mocking the behavior of spectators, especially Anglo tourists, while also entertaining the Hopi audience that laughs uproariously at its antics.  They act in a un-Hopi fashion, sometimes quite risqué, but the purpose is to teach Hopi what is not responsible behavior.  Their purpose is to show how to be "not Hopi."

Marlin Pinto is a Hopi who was born at Zuni Pueblo.  His mother is Shirley Ben, his grandmother was Daisey Hooee Nampeyo, and his great grandmother was Annie Healing Nampeyo, which makes his great great grandmother Nampeyo of Hano.  Marlin started carving when he was only eleven years old and quickly became famous for his exquisite miniature katsina doll carvings.  Later, he became even more famous for his truly outstanding larger one-piece katsina doll carvings.

The detail in this carving, as in all of Marlin's, is of the finest one can achieve.  He carves using only a pocket knife which he feels achieves the best detail—more so than achieved with electric tools.  In a one-piece carving such as this, the carver cannot make a mistake because there is little hope of making a correction.  Only the finest carvers can work with single-piece carving.  Marlin Pinto is a master at doing so. This carving was completed in 1989.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the estate of Tom Mittler, a former resident of Michigan and Santa Fe who purchased it from Adobe Gallery in 1989.

Recommended Reading: Hopi Kachina Dolls and their carvers by Theda Bassman