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2001.66.2

Kachina doll painted all over with horizontal stripes in red, yelow, green, blue and red, interspersed with black. [ZM 28/11/2005]

On display

2001.66.2

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Collection type
Object
Description
Kachina doll painted all over with horizontal stripes in red, yelow, green, blue and red, interspersed with black. [ZM 28/11/2005]
Long description
Kachina doll possibly representing the Hornet Kachina. The figure is painted all over with horizontal stripes in red, yellow, green, blue and red, interspersed with black stripes. The figure is standing and wears a pair of red, green and black painted boots and a black painted apron. The hands of the figure are painted white with the fingers outlined in black paint. A squash? is held to its chest. The figure has two long pointed horns at the top of its head (also painted in stripes) and a long pointed bill (this has been bent and is very fragile). The ears of the figure are painted red. There is a piece of string tied around the neck of the figure. [MdeA 18/2/2002]
Cultural groups
Hopi
Person
Field collector Alan Blackman
PRM source Stephen Blackman
PRM source Maria Dolores Blackman
Date / Period
Date made: 1900-1950
Date collected
By 1970
Acquisition information
Donated: 17/07/2001
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Material String, Process Painted, Process Carved
Dimensions
Height: max 245 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2001.66.2
Research and responses

This object is very similar to figure 173 of Kachina - Poupées rituelles des Indiens Hopi et Zuni a catalogue published by Musée d'Art Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens, Marseille, France. Balfour Library reference (YR) KXK B mar1 [MdeA 18/2/2002]

The object the doll clutches is more likely to be a watermelon than a squash, as it is a motif which is repeated more often and identifiably in more modern Hopi Clown kachinas. The watermelon is the subject of the Clown's gluttony, which demonstrates to children inappropriate social behaviour. The doll is made in the 'Late Traditional' style, which spanned the turn of the 20th century and favoured stocky figures with arms carved from the same piece of wood, hugging the body. However, it also employs the commercial paints and occasional leather (and feather) decorations that were introduced in the 'Early Action' style of the 1920s and 1930s. By the 1940s and 50s figures had become more life-like and were usually dressed in real fabric clothes. See Helga Teiwes, Kachina Dolls: The Art of the Hopi Carvers, Tuscon: University of Arizona Press (1991) pp. 42-46 and plate pages at rear and http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Clipart/NativeClipart-Kachina_pg1.html (accessed 17/09/2008) [HA 17/0/2008]

Search terms: Toy and Game, Religion, Figure, Doll Figure, Religious Object