Hopi Third Mesa Wicker Plaque with Sun Katsina Face [SOLD]

The unknown Third Mesa artisan who crafted this plaque did an exceptional job with an undoubtedly challenging design. The face is that of Tawa, the Sun Katsina.  The lower half of the face is green with black eyes and black upside-down triangular mouth.  The upper half of the face has colorful upper left and upper right quadrants, separated by a black and white division.  The surrounding red border represents the sun rays and the black and white extended border, usually represented by feathers, continues the sun’s rays.

Hopi baskets are rich in beauty and cultural significance.  Like the pottery produced at First Mesa, the wicker baskets made at Third Mesa and the coiled ones made at Second Mesa celebrate their makers’ connection with the land.  Even today, these baskets are made using little more than plant materials and sunlight.  The creation of one basket requires countless hours of work and a great deal of knowledge.  Their significance to the Hopi people cannot be understated.  They are used as gifts, prizes, currency and—most significantly—a wide variety of ceremonial purposes.

“In particular, plaques play a central role during Hopi weddings.  Custom requires that the groom’s family makes gifts to the bride and her family.  These include foodstuffs and the bride’s wedding outfit— her specially woven robes, her dress, her cape, her belt, her wedding sash, her reed carrying case, and her white boots. The bride’s family is then obliged to ‘pay back’ the groom’s family for their gifts.  The bride, her female relatives, and friends all grind a vast amount of corn, bake piles of piki, and cook tubs of cornmeal pudding for this pay back.  The pay back also requires the gift of numerous baskets, many of which are heaped high with cornmeal.

Of course, such baskets and plaques are made to be sold to tourists and collectors, but that does not diminish their official functions for the Hopi.  There is no conflict in their use at Hopi and their use for monetary purposes.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Hopi Third Mesa Wicker Plaque with Sun Katsina Face is from the extensive collection of a client from California

Reference: Circles of Life: Katsina Imagery on Hopi Basketry, Judith W. and Andrew D. Fingers

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Basketry, Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu