Hopi Sio Hemis Katsina Doll [SOLD]

The Hemis and Sio Hemis Katsinas are probably the most beautiful and best known of all Hopi Katsinas. Their elaborate headdress, called a tableta, is partly responsible for their attraction. They both wear a kilt, and around the waist a Hopi embroidered rain sash. Around the neck they wear an evergreen ruff.

These katsinas appear in the Home Dance or Niman Ceremony. No other katsinas, neither clowns nor side dancers appear with the line of Hemis except the Hemis Manas. It is interesting to note that at Hopi, they refer to the Sio Hemis Katsina as having come from the Rio Grande Jemez Pueblo of New Mexico. At Jemez Pueblo, they refer to a similar dance as a Hopi dance.

The tableta of this doll is made of paper board and painted with dragonflies and a sunflower. The feathers that rise upward from the back of the tableta have been removed in accordance with Federal regulations.  The neck ruff is constructed from green yarn.  The armbands are made from felt fabric. This carving appears to be circa 1950s or so.

Condition:  the doll is in very good condition.  There is no evidence that there have been repairs.

Provenance: from the personal collection of a Santa Fe resident

Recommended Reading:  Kachina Dolls: the Art of Hopi Carvers by Helga Teiwes