Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures [Hardcover]

Andrea Portago (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2006

Presented here are one hundred classic-era (1880s-1940s) Hopi and Zuni carved dolls from private and public collections that have rarely, if ever, been put on exhibition and that collectively form a profound and powerful assembly of the very finest examples from the classic period in Kachina carving. Andrea Portago has gracefully photographed these rare figures using available light so as not to distort their colours and to reveal their movement and drama, passion and personality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Designated as Outstanding Academic Title - 2006 -- Choice Magazine, January 2007

Southwest Book Award - 2006 -- Border Regional Library Association (BRLA)

The images are rich with exquisite detail, lifelike personality and an overarching sense of mystery- and the effect is stunning. -- Santa Fe New Mexican, July 23, 2006

Product Details

• Hardcover: 173 pages
• Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press (May 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890134839
• ISBN-13: 978-0890134832
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 10.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures promises more than it delivers, May 23, 2006

By 

D. VANBUREN (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures (Hardcover)

I have been awaiting publication of this book for several months, and I am very disappointed. Listing the book as "by" Barton Wright is a bit misleading. Wright's expertise on Hopi and Zuni katsinas is well established, but this book seems to be the work of the photographer Andrea Portago, whose knowledge about katsinas is far less clear. I have great respect for Barton Wright, former director of the Museum of Northern Arizona and a leading expert on katsinas. His contribution to the book, however, seems to be limited to the reprinting a fine essay he wrote 20 years ago as part of a series on the Iconography of Religions (a work on Pueblo Cultures) published in the Netherlands by E.J. Brill in 1986.

The book is not user-friendly, especially for novices on the subject of katsinas. Of its 174 pages, the first 130 pages are not numbered and consist of photographs of katsinas (in full color) or Southwest landscapes (all photographed in black and white). No plate numbers are given on the pages, and the photos provide no scale or sense of size of the katsina. Many of the photographs are not appropriately centered, and there are only about four or five different backgrounds for all the katsinas photographed. One must go to the back of the volume to find the "Illustrated List of Plates," which provides descriptive information on each photograph. However, since there are no page or plate numbers in the body of the book, one must tediously page back and forth to match the information with the specific photographs.

If you are obsessive about katsinas, like I am, and you want to make your personal library as comprehensive as possible when it comes to books about Hopi and Zuni katsinas, you might consider purchase of this book. Be forewarned, however, that it provides no new information on the topic, and the poor organization of the book makes it difficult to use. On the other hand, the book does contain a number of interesting katsinas, carved between the 1880s to the 1940s, so you might consider it on that basis. This work is not for the novice--and yes, while I was disappointed, I won't be sending it back.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful images, valuable essay, August 9, 2006

By 

Patricia Barnum (American Southwest) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures (Hardcover)

The essence of any Pueblo Kachina (Katsina) is determined in no small way by its mask (as well as by the ritual drama in which it appears). And while there are many kachina books in print, this volume by Portago and Wright emphasizes the doll's mask more than most other volumes. The Wright essay is one of his best and not easy for the layperson to find, so its printing here is especially useful. What Portago's kachina-doll photos bring to the fore is the aspect of an artist at home on either side of the camera--as a model and as the photographer. Finally, this group of kachina dolls is wonderful!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Portago katsina book, January 18, 2007

By 

B. Walsh (Holden, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures (Hardcover)

This book has one strength. The photos are excellent - at least in terms of the antique katsinam themselves. Ms. Portago's decision to photograph the carvings on metal backgrounds is odd to say the least. The essay in the back by Barton Wright is insightful but is not linked to the text. It was written many years ago.

I find one minor detail in this book to be quite annoying. Ms. Portago's bio on the jacket is twice as long as Barton Wright's. Mr. Wright is the most extensively published author on Hopi culture ever. Ms. Portago is a former model, a contessa, and a sometime photographer. That feels incongruous to me.