Hopi-Tewa Very Small Migration Design Jar [SOLD]

Hopi-Tewa pottery turns a beautiful orange blush color when fired in the traditional manner, using sheep dung.  The firing softens the harsher pre-firing color of Hopi-Tewa clay.  Members of the Nampeyo family have continued producing pottery in traditional Hopi fashion for many generations now.  None of the potters has chosen to take short cuts such as commercial kiln firing.

Elva Tewaguna Nampeyo was a granddaughter of Nampeyo of Hano and daughter of Fannie Nampeyo.  She has been gone over 30 years now so there are not many of her wares on the market, and there certainly are not many of this visual appeal.  She was an exceptional potter and her work never deteriorated later in her life when she became ill.  She certainly was one of the exceptional potters of her generation.

This small jar is an excellent example of the finest Hopi-Tewa pottery.  It was well formed with a globular shape and sensual rolled out neck.  A wide brown framing line at the neck and another one at the base of the jar set forth the area for design.  Even on a jar this small, Elva managed to display the full impact of the Sikyatki-inspired migration pattern.  This jar has the impact of jars much larger in scale.  In fact, one of Fannie's favorite designs was the migration pattern—supposedly delineating the migration of the Hopi people through four worlds.

Condition: original condition

Recommended Reading: Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery. 

Provenance: from a gentleman living in Colorado who collected pottery while living in Albuquerque in the 1970s and 1980s.