Hopi-Tewa Miniature Pottery Jar by Dextra Nampeyo [SOLD]

This wonderful miniature pottery jar was created by artist Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo.  Dextra’s incredible technical abilities translate well to the miniature format.  This pottery jar is smooth and balanced, with well-executed designs and an appealing, traditional shape. It is a tiny seed jar, essentially, with an upturned rim added.  A perfect polish extends down into the interior, just as it would on a larger pottery vessel.

Dextra’s design work is also notable.  It uses four repetitions of a traditional Hopi design to divide the pot into two sections.  On the bottom half, the beautiful tan slip appears.  Up above, a soft red appears, extending up to the rim. When viewed from above, the red area forms a square that sits perfectly within the pot’s larger circular form.  Within this square, the rim forms a smaller circle.  It is an elegant design that suits the tiny pot perfectly.

The bottom of the jar is signed Dextra and marked with her Corn Clan symbol.

Hopi-Tewa artist Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo (1928- 2019) grew up in a household of artists who worked every day, making pottery to sell to tourists, dealers and museums. Her mother was Rachel Namingha and her grandmother was Annie Healing, oldest daughter of Nampeyo of Hano. Nampeyo was still alive when Dextra was born, and Dextra got to know her great grandmother for a dozen years before she passed away. As a young child, Dextra did what all young girls did—she helped gather and process clay. She later was allowed to fill in designs that were drawn on pottery. This was the learning process for young girls who would become the future generation of potters.

Dextra was encouraged by her mother, Rachel, to produce the traditional Sikyatki designs, as other Nampeyo family members were doing. As a respectful daughter, Dextra did what her mother requested. After Rachel passed away in 1985, Dextra then began expanding her repertoire and developed her style of designs with which she would become known for the rest of her career.  Dextra passed away in 2019.

Condition: excellent; a small rim chip was repaired by a professional restoration artist.

Provenance: this Hopi-Tewa Miniature Pottery Jar by Dextra Nampeyo is from a private California collection

Recommended Reading: Painted Perfection - The Pottery of Dextra Quotskuyva by Martha H. Struever

Relative Links: Nampeyo of Hano, Annie Healing Nampeyo, Rachel Namingha, Hopi Pueblo, Contemporary Pottery, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo, Hopi-Tewa Potter