Rare Southwest Katcina Polychrome Dance Board

Description:

Rare Southwest Katcina Polychrome Dance Board, c. late 19th/early 20th century, the rectangular cottonwood (?) form painted on one side with box and border devices, with six circular forms lashed with hide and projecting from the sides, painted with a cross and four-color wedge shapes, cloth waist ties, greatest ht. 19, wd. 15 1/2 in.

Note: This object, known as a "moisture tablet," is part of a costume for a number of Hopi katsinam. Important figures such as the Red Tail Hawk and Eagle katsinam wear such devices on their backs. The six discs at the corners and mid-section of the tablet represent the four directions. The green paint is copper carbonate. The Hopi stopped using copper carbonate during the 1920s. The color would originally have been blue before it oxidized over the decades. (Barry Walsh, March, 2006).
Estimate $4,000-6,000

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