HOPI, Arizona - Lot 510

HOPI, Arizona Kachina doll featuring a headless figure with expressive features, eyes and mouth open in relief, framed by whiskers, beard and fur sideburns. She is dressed in a black loincloth with blue and red geometric decoration, belted at the waist, and wears a red scarf tied around her neck. Her left hand holds a natural branch and a white feather, while her right hand brandishes a carved maracas. She is wearing white moccasins with black motifs. Painted wood, small branches, red fabric, fur. Circa 1960-1980. This Kachina doll represents Koshari (or Koyala), a comic and sacred figure in Hopi ceremonies. A figure of symbolic provocation, he embodies the ritual clown charged with entertaining, criticizing and teaching good behavior. His social function is exercised through humor, excess and irreverence within the ceremonial. Height: 27cm