ANDREW L. SAHMIE. (American, 20th Century). White Buffalo Dancer Hopi Tewa, Hand carved of cotton wood doll, signed and titled on the bottom by Hopi artist Andrew L. Sahmie. Kachina Katsina doll with great detail, decorated with fur, feathers and sea shells. The dancer is shown with a rattle in one hand and a bow in the other, wearing leather bracelets with metals disks.
ARTIST PROFILE: Andrew is a Tewa/Hopi Indian artist from First Mesa (Polacca) Arizona. Like most of the Hopi carvers, he is self-taught in the art, working from trial and error and watching his older brothers, Finkle and Randall Sahmie. Andrew has been carving steadily since about 1990 and has developed outstanding refinement in his work. One has only to look at the crook of a finger on his kachinas to see his concentration and attention to detail. Creative individuals surround Andrew; his mother, Priscilla Namingha, and his Navajo wife, Ida Sahmie, as well as his first cousins Stephen Lucas and Dan Namingha, are all award-winning artists. Andrew's great-great grandmother was the historic Tewa/Hopi potter Nampeyo. - Height with base: 14.5". Estimate $250-350
