A large Hopi Kachina Doll. Cotton wood, articulated arms, polychrome, fiber. 19" H x 5-1/2" W The Hopi carved Kachina Dolls represent their hundreds of ancestral spirits and bring their teachings into daily life. Kachina figures are meant as gifts for children representing kachina dancers and the supernatural katsinam beings they embody. Katsina figures (katsina dolls, katsin-tihu), made of cottonwood root. Cottonwood is culturally symbolic because the cottonwood tree, once abundant in traditional Hopi lands, grows where water flows - thus, looking across a landscape, lines of cottonwood trees denote a water source in the desert. After carving, the figures are painted all over with whitewash, made from kaolin clay, and then painted in brilliant colors. Originally these were done using yucca brushes. Many of them are then decorated with other materials, like feathers, cloth, or fur. Katsina dolls are often given objects to hold which indicate their roles.

Very good