Walter Howato – Early Large Hemis Katsina

Excellent Hemis katsina by the late great Walter Howato (1921-2003). Walter was the originator of the distressed, or deliberately aged katsinam. He was influenced by antique katsinam he had seen at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. He began carving and painting in this fashion in the 1970s. He’s considered to be one of the great contributors in Hopi katsina carving history. This example is good sized at 17 1/2″ tall and 5 1/4″ wide. It shows some wear on the back from being hung on a wall for a long time. For more details on Walter’s fascinating life, see my chapter on him in “The Great Tradition of Hopi Katsina Carvers, 1880 – Present,” (Rio Nuevo Publications, 2019). From a collection in New Jersey.