Hopi Huhuwa (Cross Legged) Katsina Doll with Flowers [SOLD]

Wilburt Talashoma, Jr. is the son of Wilburt Talashoma, Sr. and brother of Lowell Talashoma, all three of whom were extraordinary katsina doll carvers. Wilbert Talashoma, Jr. started carving in the 1970s when the all-wood, mineral oil, and stains were incorporated into carvings. His work is of the finest as easily illustrated by this carving of Huhuwa. This doll carries a potted plant of tulips meant to be gifted during a dance.  The doll has its legs crossed in tradition of the Huhuwa.  He wears a bright purple blouse, red scarf, Hopi sash and belt and a fox tail on his rear. He has four yellow squash blossom flowers on his head. He is a very colorful and attractive carving.

Barton Wright lists the Huhuwa Katsina in his book Clowns of the Hopi but states that he technically is not a clown but is revered so much because of his legacy.  Folklore has it that this katsina is the spirit of a man from Second Mesa who had some crippling disease that left him barely able to walk.  Despite this handicap, he was so cheerful and eager to help others that he still continues among the Hopi as a katsina.  He often appears as a pair of katsinas hobbling about some village during a ceremony chattering between them.

Huhuwa is probably chosen more often as a gift-giving katsina at Powamu times than any other katsina, according to Wright.   He is noted for his remarks which are always humorous.  He imitates the dialects of the various villages and the funny things the villagers have done.  His clothes are always ragged and give the appearance of having been rescued from the moths in some Hopi storeroom. 

Barton Wright classified the Hopi clowns into categories into which he felt they would best blend.  He put Huhuwa in the group called Comic Kachinas with Kokopelli, Kokopell’mana, Mastop, Qöqöle, and others.  This says he is a funny katsina but not a ribald one like the Koshari.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the estate of Tom Mittler, a former resident of Michigan and Santa Fe who purchased it at Garland’s in Sedona in 1989

Recommended Reading: Clowns of the Hopi: Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers by Barton Wright