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Katsina doll
Arizona
Heheya, Rain Messenger / Uncle Katsina doll
Hopi
Circa 1900
Carved wood (cottonwood), pigments
Height: 20 cm – 8 in.
Provenance
Collection Nancy Sue & Judson C. Ball, Arizona
Bonhams San Francisco, 3 Dec. 2012 lot 4026
Private collection, California
Sold
Katsina dolls (or Katsinam) represent spirits or gods from the pantheon of the Pueblo peoples in the American Southwest. Given to children, Katsina dolls constituted a pedagogical tool allowing them to familiarize themselves with the spiritual world and perpetuating knowledge of the founding myths on which their society was based.
This Katsina doll, known by the Hopi name Heheya, belongs to the group of Katsinam associated with the Harvest. This spirit once danced on each of the three mesas of the Hopi land.
Various Southwestern myths (Hopi and Zuni) refer to Heheya. According to one of them, as the Heheya Katsinam were on their way to help humans with the harvest, one of them lost his way and ended up in a cave. Feeling alone and abandoned, he began to weep. Since that day, the face of Heheya has always been shown covered with tears or, as in this example, adorned with rain clouds.
In other versions, Heheya weeps because, at a certain time, humans stopped calling upon him during the Katsina dances—hence his sorrow. The tears of Heheya, symbolizing life-giving rain, remind people of the importance of celebrating the Katsinam so that they never allow these spirits to fade into oblivion.
Regarding the Nancy Sue and Judson C. Ball Collection of Native American Art: the Balls began avidly collecting Hopi and Zuni Katsina dolls in the 1970s, though Judson Ball’s fascination had started much earlier, as a child in the 1950s, when he first visited a Hopi reservation. Over the years, he came to know notable carvers such as Wilson Tawaquaptewa and Jimmie Kewanwytewa. Their passion for Katsinam stemmed not only from their charm as artworks, but also from the way "they represent the continuum or circle of life."
This Katsina doll, known by the Hopi name Heheya, belongs to the group of Katsinam associated with the Harvest. This spirit once danced on each of the three mesas of the Hopi land.
Various Southwestern myths (Hopi and Zuni) refer to Heheya. According to one of them, as the Heheya Katsinam were on their way to help humans with the harvest, one of them lost his way and ended up in a cave. Feeling alone and abandoned, he began to weep. Since that day, the face of Heheya has always been shown covered with tears or, as in this example, adorned with rain clouds.
In other versions, Heheya weeps because, at a certain time, humans stopped calling upon him during the Katsina dances—hence his sorrow. The tears of Heheya, symbolizing life-giving rain, remind people of the importance of celebrating the Katsinam so that they never allow these spirits to fade into oblivion.
Regarding the Nancy Sue and Judson C. Ball Collection of Native American Art: the Balls began avidly collecting Hopi and Zuni Katsina dolls in the 1970s, though Judson Ball’s fascination had started much earlier, as a child in the 1950s, when he first visited a Hopi reservation. Over the years, he came to know notable carvers such as Wilson Tawaquaptewa and Jimmie Kewanwytewa. Their passion for Katsinam stemmed not only from their charm as artworks, but also from the way "they represent the continuum or circle of life."
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