Hopi Tewa Eagle Tail Design Jar in Polychrome by Fannie Polacca Nampeyo [SOLD]

This is a beautifully rich orange-colored seed jar rendered in a polychrome version of a prehistoric Sikyatki design pattern. It is devoid of framing lines, that normally enclose a design, which permits the design to be free-floating rather than confined within a frame. The round opening of the jar is outlined in a square pattern of red which, in turn, is outlined in three parallel very fine black lines which form a box around the opening.  From this square design are suspended four "eagle tail" design elements, a design originally used by the ancestral Hopi at Sikyatki.

Fannie Polacca Nampeyo (1900-1987) was a daughter of Nampeyo and Lesou and she had two sisters, Annie Healing and Nellie Douma.  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.

She was an outstanding potter and was the last of the three sisters to pass away. As a result, she is probably the best known of Nampeyo’s daughters. Fannie was particularly adept at making fine, well balanced vessels. She seemed to be particularly outstanding at applying just the right design to fit the scale and shape of the vessel.

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.

Condition: this Hopi Tewa Eagle Tail Design Jar in Polychrome by Fannie Polacca Nampeyo is in excellent structural condition. There are some very minor abrasions to the painted surface.

Recommended Reading: Nampeyo and Her Pottery by Barbara Kramer

Provenance: from the Southwest Indian Pottery collection of a family from Santa Fe

Source Image (upper left): courtesy of Rick Dillingham. Fannie is to the left Nampeyo is to the right. Fourteen Families In Pueblo Pottery.