Hopi Tuskiapaya - Crazy Rattle Katsina Doll [SOLD]

The Hopi Tuskiapaya Katsina, is called the Crazy Rattle Katsina, and is a variant of the Sikyachantaka Katsina, which is a very old Hopi Katsina.  It is said that a long time ago when the Hopis were having a famine and the Spanish had driven off their sheep, they decided to have a katsina dance.  At that time, Sikyachantaka did not have a name but one man in the village had a cow, and he killed the animal and fed these katsinas the entrails of the cow.  Hence their name, “holding entrails in the mouth.” 

This carving, which appears to be circa 1940s, is from a single piece of cottonwood root except for the bulging eyes, the snout and ears. 

Condition: very good condition with some abrasion to the painted areas and a broken and glued right foot.

References: 

Hopi Kachina Tradition: Following the Sun and Moon by Alph Secakuku

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

Provenance:  from a former client to whom we sold a number of Katsina dolls in the 1980s although this is not one we sold to him.