Hopi-Tewa Deep Carved Design of Long Hair Katsina and Mana Pottery Vessel [SOLD]

This pottery jar by artists Marty Naha and Elvira Polacca features a Hopi Pueblo Long Hair Katsina and a Kachinmana.  It appears that the male is spreading corn pollen over crops and the mana is pouring water over them.  The background is deep carved lines covered in red pigment. The highlights of the design are in polished beige.

Marty Naha and Elvira Polacca, both of the Hopi-Tewa, Arizona, married in 1991 and both learned the techniques of deep-carved pottery from Elvira’s dad, Thomas Polacca. Elvira’s siblings—Gary Polacca and Carla Claw—also produce pottery of that style.

Marty Naha is mentioned in Rick Dillingham’s “Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery” and in Greg Schaaf’s “Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies” but neither book lists from what Naha family he belongs.  If anyone knows his family relations, please let us know.

Condition: this Hopi-Tewa Deep Carved Design of Long Hair Katsina and Mana Pottery Vessel is in very good condition

Provenance: from the estate of a former client from Oregon

Reference:

- Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

- Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Relative Links: Marty Naha and Elvira Polacca, pottery, Thomas Polacca, Gary Polacca, Carla Claw, Katsina