Modern Hopi Pottery Tile with Stylized Bird

Sometime around the mid-nineteenth century, the Hopis began making tiles for decoration, the designs of which were similar in style to the ones traditionally featured on their pottery. As interest in Hopi pottery and merchandise began to take hold of the public, tiles became more popular, and a market developed. The art of decorative tile making became extremely prominent for the Hopis in the 20th century, peaking around the 1920s.

This is a tile made by Agnes Honie with traditional red Hopi Pueblo clay. It features a wonderful design of a stylized bird, commonly seen on Hopi pottery and ceramics. To the Hopis, birds are seen as guides, protectors, and mediators between Earth and the Divine.  It is signed with the artist's name on the back of the tile.

The bird is symmetrical with its wings on the bottom, containing two zigzag patterns on each side. The outermost zigzags feature lines, and the inner are filled in with dark brown and white pigments. Atop is the bird's head, a curved shape with white lines, dark brown triangular peaks, and a dark brown stylized beak.

Agnes Honie is a Hopi potter who comes from a family of artists. We don't have much information on her other than she has made many beautiful works in her lifetime. She is listed as active only from 1980 to 1990.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Modern Hopi Pottery Tile with Stylized Bird is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History by Pat & Kim Messier

TAGS: Southwest Indian Pottery, Hopi Pueblo, Agnes Honie