Dig It - 6/19/23
A Big Howdy Out There to all my Fellow Seekers! What is in store for today? Well, we are going to look at a rare Late 19th to Early 20th Century Hopi carving. Some might call this a Kachina, but technically it is not a kachina, rather it is a deity called Alosaka. She is the goddess of Reproduction. We can tell that the deity is female because she is wearing a manta or shawl. Even with the orange paint we can tell this piece was carved in the late 19th century, maybe the first few years of the 20th century, because of a number of stylistic characteristics. First, the head or mask is very large in proportion to the body. Next, her skirt is carved up to make an edge, another early characteristic. Like most of the early Hopi carvings, she is beautifully carved and painted.
Beginning in the late 19th century there was an ever-growing demand from outsiders, such as Anthropologists, Museums and Collectors for Hopi kachina carvings and this created a Market which still flourishes today.
