Hopi Hemis kachina - Arizona - 31 cm - Collection Fred Smit

Description

Powerful Hopi Hemis kachina with impressive headdress, traditionally crafted and painted in vibrant colours. A special collector's item for connoisseurs of Hopi art.

Origin & meaning
The Hemis Katsina is one of the most recognisable and respected Hopi kachinas. Its tall, rectangular head ornament with geometric symbols and feathers is distinctive. The Hemis plays an important role during the Niman ceremony (Home Dance), the farewell ritual in July in which the kachinas return to their spiritual world. This ceremony symbolises fertility, harvest and harmony.

This copy is from Swan Auction House (2024), from the renowned collection of Fred Smit (Haarlem). The polychrome painting is still vividly visible and the presence of the original feathers makes this sculpture extra special.

Dimensions
Height 31 cm
Width 13 cm
Depth 6 cm

Provenance: Veilinghuis de Zwaan (2024), Collection Fred Smit, Haarlem

Fred Smit - teacher and historian Fred Smit made his first purchase in 1968 and would steadily expand his collection over the following decades to include objects from distant cultures. His interest was mainly in Africa and Oceania and he bought from recognised galleries, including Galerie Lemaire, Galerie Mabuhay (Rob Kok), Kunsthandel Aalderink and Michel Thieme in Amsterdam. His interests proved diverse: besides masks and sculptures, there were also weapons, carpets and various utensils. Visitors were amazed by the order with which the collector at his home in Haarlem managed to place each object in the big picture of shapes and colours, contributing to an imaginative interpretation of objects from exotic cultures.