Hopi Pueblo Small and Exquisite Kokopelli Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This Hopi Pueblo wood Katsina carving of the humpback flute player, known by everyone as Kokopelli, appears to be from circa 1950s.  He is featured in an action pose, as if getting ready to move.  Both arms are out in front, and his head and upper body are slightly forward.  The doll is pictured with a humpback, a symbol of his fertility purpose.

The doll has a charming appearance, perhaps because of the scale.  It is a captivating carving.  The white body paint appears to be kaolin, and the other colors possibly casein.

To quote from Barton Wright, “Undoubtedly Kokopelli, the Hump-backed Flute Player, has caught the imagination of more people than any other Hopi kachina except perhaps the Hemis Kachina.  Some of that interest is because he is so blatantly phallic in nature, but beyond this he appears in every nook and cranny of the Southwest.  His image is found in all of the pueblos and among the southern Indians as well.  He dances happily around a Hohokam pot and chases mountain sheep through the canyons of the San Juan.  There is always speculation about what inspired this particular personation.  Ties with Mexico and even South America have been suggested for he appears in all of these places.  Among the Hopis he is a Flute Player only when he borrows a flute to dance.  Usually he appears in the Mixed Kachina Dances or sometimes in a Night Dance.  Despite these relatively minor appearances, he is thought of as a seducer of girls, a bringer of babies, a tutelary of hunting, and an excellent subject for the carving of tihus or kachina dolls.” [Wright, 1973:109]

Condition: good condition with paint abrasions and a repair to a broken left arm.

Provenance: this Hopi Pueblo Small and Exquisite Kokopelli Katsina Doll is from the collection of a gentleman from California

Recommended Reading: Kokopelli: Flute Player Images in Rock Art by Dennis Slifer

Reference: Wright, Barton. Kachinas: a Hopi Artist’s Documentary

Relative Links: Hopi Pueblo, Katsina Dolls