Skip Navigation

Kachina Doll (Kwivi Katsina)

Arts of the Americas

CULTURE Hopi Pueblo
MEDIUM Wood, pigment, yarn, feathers
DATES 20th century
DIMENSIONS 12 3/4 x 6 x 4 3/4 in. (32.4 x 15.2 x 12.1 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER 1996.22.8
CREDIT LINE Anonymous gift
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Carved and painted figure with cylindrical head, protruding muzzle and partially flexed arms. The face is painted white and the hairline is described by a black, stepped border edged in red. The eyes are black rectangles and the muzzle is black with red lips and white teeth. Black circles are painted on the cheeks. The chest is painted half in brown and half in light blue with white lightning bolts on both sides. Brown and blue bands are painted on arms. The rest of the exposed body at waist and thighs is white with thin brown vertical lines. The kilt is painted brown with a multi-colored stepped star pattern and stripes. The figure wears brown painted boots or leggings. Black yarn ornaments the right wrist and headband. A tuft of feathers springs from the upper left part of the head. These attributes suggest the Hopi antelope kachina (see reference below). Condition is fair. The front of the right foot is missing and there is a structure in its place made with steel pins and resin. The figure is otherwise in tact. The doll presumably held something in the left hand which is now missing. The polychrome is stable but abraded at numerous points in the back. There are red waxy deposits on the back of the skirt. The doll is extremely dirty, especially the yarn and feathers on the head. References: Colton, Harold S., "Hopi Kachina Dolls with a Key to Their Identification (1977), fig. 7 (lower right) History: Formerly in the collection of Allan Chapman.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Hopi Pueblo. Kachina Doll (Kwivi Katsina), 20th century. Wood, pigment, yarn, feathers, 12 3/4 x 6 x 4 3/4 in. (32.4 x 15.2 x 12.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Anonymous gift, 1996.22.8. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1996.22.8_front.jpg)
IMAGE front, CUR.1996.22.8_front.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.