1920s-30s Navan Katsina – Zuni Form – Dignified Example

Most Navan katsinam have a velvet shirt, but I’ve seen a number of examples that have standard body paint as with this one. 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 is a photo of a 1920s Navan with body paint similar to this example said to be the Zuni type.

This katsina is a beautiful carving that has the dignity of old Hopi katsinam. It is 8 3/4″ tall with the base adding 1/2″. From a French collection. No restoration.