Hopi Small Flat Top Seed Jar with Migration Pattern [SOLD]

Fannie Polacca Nampeyo (1900-1987) was a daughter of Nampeyo and Lesou and she had two sisters, Annie Healing Nampeyo and Nellie Douma Nampeyo.  They were all Corn Clan, the clan of their mom.  Lesou was Tobacco Clan but clan inheritance is from the mother. Fannie had 7 children—Thomas, Elva, Tonita, Iris, Leah, Harold and Ellsworth—all of whom were potters, full time or occasionally.

The image shows Nampeyo of Hano on the right with her daughter Fannie on the left - ca. 1930, courtesy of Rick Dillingham’s Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery.

Fannie won her first Blue Ribbon in 1961 from the Museum of Northern Arizona at the annual Hopi Show.  Her pottery was selected for several museum exhibits in the 1990s.  Since she was the youngest daughter of Nampeyo and Lesou, she was better known, personally, by many collectors, most of whom never met Annie or Nellie.  She was still actively making pottery in the mid-1980s.

One of Fannie’s favorite designs was the migration pattern—supposedly delineating the migration of the Hopi people through four worlds.  Whether it was her favorite or whether she produced it because it was collectors’ favorite is unknown, but it is the one she seems to have made more often.

This jar with the migration pattern is typical of her wares except the top is flatter than most of her seed jars.   The flat top provided more visible surface area on which to place a design that would be visible when looking down at the vessel, however, it created more difficulty for her as she had to flip the jar with one hand while making a sweeping stroke with the yucca paint brush.

Fannie was an exceptional potter and her migration pattern design was always beautifully executed.  This small seed jar is a fine example of her work

Condition: this Hopi Small Flat Top Seed Jar with Migration Pattern is in very good condition

Provenance: this Hopi Seed Jar with Migration Pattern by Fannie is from a gentleman collector from Texas

Recommended Reading: Allen, Laura Graves. Contemporary Hopi Pottery, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff. 1984.