1920s Hopi Navan Katsina – Zuni Version

This Hopi Navan katsina from the 1920s carries its age well. It has the 1920s characteristic of the hands being in the “belly ache” position. The carving is 8″ tall including the feathers. The professional metal base which encircles the waist adds 1/2″. There is some modest discoloration to the face… looks to be early damage from moisture. Not disfiguring. 

Most Navan katsinam have a velvet shirt, but I’ve had a number of examples that have standard body paint as with this one. See the other Navan example on this page.

Barton Wright explained this phenomenon in his book, “Kachinas: the Barry Goldwater Collection at the Heard Museum” (1975). On page 23, he notes, “The Navan or Velvet Shirt comes in at least two forms…. A Zuni type and the Hopi version.” On page 23 of Barton’s book is a photo of a 1920s Navan with body paint similar to this example said to be the Zuni type.