Hopi Cottonwood Umtoinaqa (Thunder) Katsina Doll [SOLD]

According to published information by Barton Wright “Umtoinaqa is the Shooting Thunder Kachina.  He acts as a policeman or guard during the Bean Dance but is most commonly seen in the Mixed Katsina Dances.  The bull roarer that he carries in his hand is used to imitate the sound of thunder.”

The painting in Barton Wright’s book depicts a different version of this katsina but the one presented here is the older version.  This older version has a simpler look than the fancier doll presented as a more recent version.  This Hopi Pueblo carving appears to date to the 1930s, or perhaps a little later, but no later than the mid-1940s.  The paints used are pre-World War II pigments, before the appearance of acrylic paints.

Condition: good condition with a loss of paint and wood at the area of the left eye.

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

Provenance: from the estate of a family from Texas