Hopi, Arizona
1870 to 1880
Wood, cloth, bear skin, bone, shells
Height 12" (30.5 cm)
Provenance: Alistair Bradley Martin, acquired late 1940s; The Guennol Collection; Brooklyn Museum
Exhibition: The Guennol Collection: Cabinet of Wonders, Brooklyn Museum, February 25 to May 7, 2000
Publication: The Guennol Collection, Volume III, 1991, Alistair Martin, text by Alan Wardwell, pp. 66 to 67
This Hopi Hon Bear katsina dates to 1870 to 1880 and comes from the Guennol Collection, one of the most thoroughly documented private collections of ancient and ethnographic art assembled in the 20th century, formed by Alistair Bradley Martin beginning in the late 1940s. The Hon katsina is understood within Hopi tradition as a bear figure associated with strength, protection, healing knowledge, and the ability to overcome dangerous forces. The figure belongs to an early period when katsina carvings were closely tied to instruction and ceremonial use rather than later production oriented toward the collector market.
Unlike many bear katsina figures where the animal is represented through painted surface, this example incorporates actual bear skin, cloth, bone, and shells into the figure itself, giving the work a material relationship to the bear identity it represents. These materials concentrate ceremonial presence within a compact scale consistent with early instructional katsina figures of the late 19th century. The Hon figure is also associated with spring dances, rain-bringing, and the protective force of the bear within the broader Hopi ceremonial cycle.
The figure was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 2000 as part of The Guennol Collection: Cabinet of Wonders and published in The Guennol Collection, Volume III, with text by Alan Wardwell, giving it a level of independent scholarly documentation unusual for objects of this type. The Guennol Collection provenance, with acquisition in the late 1940s, places the figure within one of the most respected collecting histories in American ethnographic art. The combination of early date, complex mixed materials, exhibition history, and published record gives this katsina a well documented position within the corpus of 19th century Hopi ceremonial carving.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Hopi, Arizona
1870 to 1880
Wood, cloth, bear skin, bone, shells
Height 12" (30.5 cm)
Provenance: Alistair Bradley Martin, acquired late 1940s; The Guennol Collection; Brooklyn Museum
Exhibition: The Guennol Collection: Cabinet of Wonders, Brooklyn Museum, February 25 to May 7, 2000
Publication: The Guennol Collection, Volume III, 1991, Alistair Martin, text by Alan Wardwell, pp. 66 to 67
This Hopi Hon Bear katsina dates to 1870 to 1880 and comes from the Guennol Collection, one of the most thoroughly documented private collections of ancient and ethnographic art assembled in the 20th century, formed by Alistair Bradley Martin beginning in the late 1940s. The Hon katsina is understood within Hopi tradition as a bear figure associated with strength, protection, healing knowledge, and the ability to overcome dangerous forces. The figure belongs to an early period when katsina carvings were closely tied to instruction and ceremonial use rather than later production oriented toward the collector market.
Unlike many bear katsina figures where the animal is represented through painted surface, this example incorporates actual bear skin, cloth, bone, and shells into the figure itself, giving the work a material relationship to the bear identity it represents. These materials concentrate ceremonial presence within a compact scale consistent with early instructional katsina figures of the late 19th century. The Hon figure is also associated with spring dances, rain-bringing, and the protective force of the bear within the broader Hopi ceremonial cycle.
The figure was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 2000 as part of The Guennol Collection: Cabinet of Wonders and published in The Guennol Collection, Volume III, with text by Alan Wardwell, giving it a level of independent scholarly documentation unusual for objects of this type. The Guennol Collection provenance, with acquisition in the late 1940s, places the figure within one of the most respected collecting histories in American ethnographic art. The combination of early date, complex mixed materials, exhibition history, and published record gives this katsina a well documented position within the corpus of 19th century Hopi ceremonial carving.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
