The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Canteen with a Katsina-like Face
1890
Overall: 21.5 x 24.5 cm (8 7/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
Gift of Amelia Elizabeth White 1937.708
Location: 231 Native North American
Description
Since the 1500s, Hopi women made big-bellied canteens, based on Spanish prototypes, and used them to carry water. By the late 1800s, canteens became popular with Euro-American tourists, who increasingly flocked to the Southwest in search of encounters with “exotic” Native American cultures. Thus, Hopi artists embellished their wares to improve their appeal. This example is painted with a face similar to a Katsina’s, a spirit being central to Pueblo religion—but it is a fanciful rendition, not an actual Katsina. Could the maker have been taking control of her culture and its consumption by outsiders?- {{cite web|title=Canteen with a Katsina-like Face|url=false|author=|year=1890|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1937.708