Very Early Sootukwnug'taqa Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This was a difficult katsina on which to find published data because I did not recognize it.  I had to consult with my trusted katsina expert to figure out which katsina this doll represented.  He immediately identified it as Sootukwung’taqa and said that it was missing the crown, a protrusion pointing up from the top of the head.  He is also missing the lightning bolt and bull roarer he uses to make thundering sounds.

With that information, I located a photograph of the doll in a book by Hopi artist Alph Secakuku (see reference below).  According to Secakuku, “Sootukwnang is a Star Katsina who manages the movement of the universe.  He appears during Angk’wa and during the summer katsina day dances, usually with the mixed katsina group.”- Secakuku, p29

This is a very early carving, probably from the first quarter of the 20^th century. The body paint appears to be from a mineral source.  It looks like the first coat of pigment is blue with a white wash over the blue.  The doll was carved with a knife.

There is no evidence that the crown ever existed as there is a bundle of feathers where the crown would be and there is no evidence that anything was ever attached to the head.  The doll appears to be complete as it was originally made.  There is no evidence that the items normally seen in the hands ever existed on this carving.

It is not unusual to see two spellings of the name of this or other katsinas as historians and documentarians have used spellings from various sources over the past hundred years.

Condition: Very good condition with a broken and glued right arm at the elbow.

Reference:  Secakuku, Alph. Following the Sun and Moon: Hopi Kachina Tradition, 1995.

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe family who purchased it from Kania Ferrin Gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe in the 1980s.