Hopi Tewa Polychrome Pottery Cylinder Jar by Feather Woman [SOLD]

This cylindrical jar is typical of the style and design of Helen Naha, the famous Hopi-Tewa potter known as Feather Woman.  There are three Sikyatki-style birds on the side walls, each separated by a black symbolic rain cloud. The rim rolls inward in a graceful curve and has a wide black framing line on the curve.  

Helen Naha (1922-1993) Feather Woman covered her pottery in white slip which she then polished. The design was painted on using red clay and black mineral paints. In this jar, she covered the entire exterior, including the underside, in white slip.  The beaks of the birds are black and curve in a spiral. On the heads are top knots, perhaps indicating quail?

The jar is signed simply with a feather on the underside, the hallmark of Helen Naha.  

Condition: very good condition with very minor paint abrasions

Provenance: this Hopi Tewa Polychrome Pottery Cylinder Jar by Feather Woman is from a member of the Maisel family of Albuquerque

Recommended Reading: Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artist Biographies by Greg Schaaf

Relative Links: Helen Naha - Feather Woman, Southwest Indian Pottery, Hopi Pueblo, Contemporary Pottery, Joy Navasie (Frog Woman), Burel Naha, Rainy Naha, Sylvia Naha