Hopi Black on Red Small Jar by Nampeyo [SOLD]

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Nampeyo of Hano, Hopi-Tewa Potter and Matriarch

Nampeyo of Hano was probably the finest pueblo potter of all times.  She was skilled in construction of vessels, she mastered the techniques of scraping and surface finishing, she had an artist’s eye for vessel shapes and she excelled in design creation and application.  She did all of this at a time when pueblo pottery was not even considered collectible1880 to 1910, long before Native art was appreciated.

 

It was through the efforts of Thomas Keam and the Hubbell traders that her name became known to the outside world.  Also credit must be given to the Fred Harvey Company who housed her and her family in the Hopi House at the Grand Canyon in summer seasons of 1905 and 1907.  It was through these gentlemen’s recognition that she was a master potter that her name became known to others and deservedly so.

 

Nampeyo created all shapes and sizes of pottery during her career.  This small jar with a black design on red clay is her work.  The design is one referred to as Eagle Tail.  “Nampeyo painted several red slip jars with this design around 1904 to 1910.” Kramer 1996

 

The red slip was stone polished from the rim completely to the underside as was a significant portion of the inside wall.  The design has a triangle element near the rim that features Nampeyo’s stippling as does the pair of feathers that point downward.  This is a wonderful example of Nampeyo’s vessel shape that has a wide base graduating upward to a rolled out rim.

 

Condition: very good condition with some repair to a rim chip.  Minor loss of some brown painted design but nothing significant

Provenance: from a gentleman in Colorado

Recommended ReadingCanvas of Clay: Seven Centuries of Hopi Ceramic Art by Wade and Cooke

 

Nampeyo of Hano, Hopi-Tewa Potter and Matriarch
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