Hopi Miniature Jar with Bird and Dragonfly Design [SOLD]

Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo (1924-2008) was one of the finest of the Nampeyo family members of pottery fame.  She made some magnificent very large jars and she created new designs or modified traditional designs to her tastes.  She was a third-generation descendant of Nampeyo of Hano. Her mother was Rachel Namingha Nampeyo and her grandmother was Annie Healing Nampeyo. She continued using the Sikyatki revival designs taught to her by Nampeyo of Hano. She was an outstanding potter and her designs were always beautifully executed.

Occasionally, Priscilla would form a miniature jar like this one.  Perhaps she was using up a small amount of clay left over from making a large jar or perhaps it was just a relief to work on something less than a very large jar.  At any rate, we are fortunate that she did make this as there are collectors who only want miniature vessels and there are very few Hopi potters who made or make them.

The jar is so small that Priscilla only had room to place her initials P. N. and Nampeyo on the base.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Alexandria, Virginia

Recommended Reading: MASTER PUEBLO POTTERS—Maria Martinez, Santana & Adam Martinez, Lucy Lewis, Fannie Nampeyo and Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo

Artist Photo courtesy of Rick Dillingham: Fourteen Families In Pueblo Pottery.