Hopi Polychrome Palhikmana Design Canteen [R]

Small canteens were made for the men to take to the fields with them as a source of drinking water. Equipped with a corncob stopper and filled with cold water, a canteen would keep the water cold through evaporation. The handles, fashioned in a manner to permit a woven sash to be secured through them facilitated hanging the canteen from one’s shoulder or hanging it from a tree limb.

It does not appear that this Southwest Indian Pottery canteen was ever used prior to being sold.  It was probably made to be sold and is considered a contemporary pottery vessel.  Interestingly, the spout is upturned in the manner that Nampeyo fashioned spouts would be, however, I do not believe this canteen is old enough to have been made by Nampeyo of Hano, matriarch of Hopi Pueblo.  Perhaps another member of the Nampeyo family picked up Nampeyo’s style for placing the spout in an upturned position and that person has not been credited yet with doing so.  At any rate, the canteen is not signed with the name of a maker.  There are remnants of red paint on the underside of the canteen which might have been a signature but it is no longer legible.

The design is that of the face and upper body of a Palhikmana Katsina.  The face is the round portion in the center top of the canteen and the entire upper part is the tableta of the katsina.  The robe is below the face and there are two nugget necklaces with jaclas.  The fuzzy elements dangling from the tableta represent feathers.

Condition: very good condition with some abrasion to the painted design.

Recommended Reading:  Canvas of Clay: Seven Centuries of Hopi Ceramic Art.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Florida