Hopi Pueblo Pottery Mudhead Wind Chime by Polingaysi Qöyawayma [SOLD]

This pottery Mudhead wind chime is the unique creation of Third Mesa artist Elizabeth White whose Hopi name was Polingaysi Qöyawayma.  The clay is a warm pinkish tone.  The Mudhead face represents the katsina and is the only body part with a polished texture.  The wide body, beautifully textured, is the wind chime shell, and was left in the unpolished natural clay state. Hanging below is the arrow-shape striker.  

Hopi Pueblo artist Elizabeth White is remembered for her beautiful pottery creations. Polingaysi Qöyawayma was the only Hopi potter who used her creativity to make pottery wind chimes, of which I am aware.  

Adobe Gallery does not know if Polingaysi intended for the wind chime to be used as such, or if it was meant only to hang indoors as a work of art.  I would recommend that it stay indoors as it is too precious a work of art to have it damaged.

Elizabeth White (1892-1990) Polingaysi Qöyawayma was one of the most charming Hopi persons one could ever meet. She was a potter, a painter, an author, a poet, and a philosopher. She made very few pieces of pottery because she started potting late in life and she devoted time to those other pursuits.  This Mudhead wind chime is a masterpiece of tradition, charm, and uniqueness from a master potter.

The arrowhead weight or hanging apparatus at the bottom is signed with the artist's name. There is a pottery striker inside (see below). There is a leather strip on the back of the topknot of the katsina's head by which to hang the structure.

Condition: some restoration to the chiming disc on the interior and on the arrow, but the main body is without damage.

Provenance: this Hopi Pueblo Pottery Mudhead Wind Chime by Polingaysi Qöyawayma is from the collection of a Santa Fe family estate

Recommended Reading:  No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman by Polingaysi Qöyawayma

Relative Links: Navajo, Al Qöyawayma, Iris Nampeyo, pottery, Hopi Pueblo, Elizabeth White, Polingaysi Qöyawayma, Hopi Pueblo Potter