Very Small Mongwa - Owl Katsina Doll by Koots [SOLD]

There are collectors of Southwest Indian items who concentrate on items of the smallest scale.  Some do so because they set up displays of miniature items in crate-like boxes.  Others collect miniatures for display in dollhouses, where every item has to be in proper scale.

Whether that is the reason Jimmy Koots made such a small Owl Katsina doll is not known, but presented here is the smallest Koots katsina doll of which I am aware.  It is barely 2 inches tall.

It was carved from cottonwood root, appears to be all from a single piece of root except perhaps the beak.  It is even likely that the beak is part of the original wood as there is no evidence of glue that is discernable. 

The Great Horned Owl Katsina, as a warrior, is relentless in persecuting the clowns. He stands to the edge of the dance circle while the clowns are performing and he watches disapprovingly of their antics. Near the end of the dance, a group of Mongwa swoops down on the clowns and beats them with yucca whips, douses them with water, and leaves them piled up in the center of the plaza in pain.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: from the collection of a native of Stockholm, Sweden, who was gifted them.  They were originally purchased in 1965 from Rare Things by Dutton, a Santa Fe business located at 138 Sena Plaza with the telephone number of Yucca2-5904.  The original invoice stated “Dolls from Hotevilla, 3^rd Mesa, Hopi, Arizona,”

Recommended Reading:  Kachinas: Spirit Beings of the Hopi by Alexander Anthony and Brent Ricks