Estate Sale Kachina Find

Good day to all! I had a lovely experience at an Estate Sale last weekend finding a vast collection of Kachinas. I believe them to be Navajo and suspect they are not antiques but I'm hoping to leverage the collective knowledge of this forum to confirm my suspicions... I believe I've got two Sunface and one Buffalo, which, while beautiful are not the work of any notable artist. Very much appreciate any insights you can share about these pieces!

 

they are nice.
to my eye , tourist shop grade , 1980's or newer..

 

If I am correct, the Kachina dolls were hung on the wall after the ceremony when they were given to young girls . So the ones that are on stands were for the tourist trade.

 

Here's some info I keep on file about kachina dolls:

Perhaps due to the widespread “misinformation” on line, and then the continued cut and paste of that misinformation (incorrectly assumed to be accurate), there is now widespread misunderstanding of what a “kachina” or a “kachina doll” actually is.

First, a “kachina" is a spiritual figure, found only in the Hopi, Zuni, and a few other Rio Grande pueblo tribes. Neither the Navajo, nor any other Native American Indian tribe, has kachinas in their culture. Because of their spiritual or religious nature, they are not human so they are never carved representations of humans.

Every kachina, however, has a specific appearance and can be identified by the facial features, the face and body painting, specific things they carry in their hands, and their attire.

The carvings are called "tithu" or "katsintithu" in Hopi, because they are not the actual kachina, nor are they playthings. They are a teaching device, called a "kachina doll", in English.

In order to be an authentic kachina doll, a carving must be made by a Hopi or Zuni carver, and accurately depict an actual kachina from their religion. They were originally given to young Hopi girls, so that they would recognize the different kachinas when they saw them in dances and ceremonies, since the Kachina Society is all male. Then some carvers began carving them for sale to collectors.

The Navajo, and then others, seeing the market potential, began to carve souvenir figures for sale to tourists in the 1980s/1990s. Since they don't believe in kachinas, they often don’t recognize them, and usually make little attempt to depict them accurately. Instead, they use their creativity and imagination to carve whatever will attract a potential buyer. Some may be named after actual Hopi or Zuni kachinas, others may be complete fantasy figures, but to a collector, they are not authentic “kachina dolls.”

There is still a market for them as decorative Southwest art, and as a type of Navajo folk art, but they technically aren't "kachina dolls."

The difference between a Hopi and a Navajo carving is usually immediately recognizable. Whenever you see these figures embellished with rabbit fur, leather, fabric, and feathers, (especially if one foot is raised) it is a sure sign it is Navajo, not Hopi. The Hopi do not make kachina dolls in this style.

Hopi carvers, if they are carving for sale, have learned to sign with their last names, and usually "Hopi" or at least their village, since the Navajo have pretty much flooded the market with their copies. Some of the frequent Navajo carvings will have the surname Begay, Yazzie, Benally, Chee, Tsosie, Kachada, or other non-Hopi last name.

So I agree, yours are fairly recent, made for the tourist trade, not for collectors of authentic kachina dolls.

 

Hint: If you click Full Size your photos will appear in the post and not as tiny links

 

This is very helpful! I really appreciate it!!

 

Thank you! I had to resize them to create the post but will look for the Full Size option for future posts

 

I'd guess what Taupou's talking about re authentic 19th century Hopi teaching Kachinas,would be figures 1,4&5 in the above photo.I'm no expert,just judging the simple strength & power of the pieces.Figs 2&3 could be high-quality art created for sale.

 

Great and interesting info. Thanks

 

What many don't realize, is that the "style" of kachina carving has changed over the years, from the static depiction of kachinas with arms close to the body (1 and 5, above), to more detailed and decorated (2 and 3), to the action-styles showing dancers and hunters in the 1990s (which required cottonwood bases), to the all-wood elaborate sculptures popular today.

It has little to do with the purpose of the carving (although changes in styles did influence sales), and doesn't negate the need to accurately represent actual kachinas (which non-Hopi carvers usually do.)

The style helps date the authentic kachina dolls. Before they were even made for sale, most kachina dolls were similar to 1 and 5 above.

But ever since Hopi (and Zuni) carvers have also been carving for collectors (as well as for use as teaching devices), they have been making changes in the general style. And that excludes making "fantasy figures" for the tourist trade. Carving accurate depictions of actual kachinas is still vital to traditionally-trained Hopi and Zuni carvers, and central to their belief system.

 

So I guess the tell that let's us know Kach4 is later w/ separately carved pinioned arms.Earlier ones seem to be a simple single-block un-pierced carving.
Interesting that modern Kachinas can be teaching figures & appeal to modern Anglo collectors.

 

The fact that #4 has separately carved arms, could also mean that it is a Zuni carving, rather than Hopi, since the Zuni often carved kachina dolls with articulated arms.

There's no way to tell from the photo if the arms actually move, but if they do, it's probably Zuni, since that's a characteristic associated with their carvings, while the Hopi generally carved theirs differently.

 

This commentary sure helps when it comes to differentiating modern tourist kachina and older trad ones.

 

Thank you for this insight! None of the dolls have any articulation, the arms do not move. (But I love how they are positioned as crafted!)