Hopi-Tewa Small Jar with Corrugated Neck by Nampeyo [SOLD]

A few jars and bowls made by Nampeyo of Hano had her name painted on before firing.  Since Nampeyo did not write, her name was painted on by her daughter, Annie Healing. This jar has Nampeyo painted on the underside.  It appears to be a jar made around 1910.

The historic Southwest Indian Pottery has a bulbous body with a strongly curved neckline on which are three rows of impressions in the clay.  The vessel wall is thin and the yellowish slip was polished to a high sheen. The design is a highly stylized bird with its beak gracefully curved toward the base of the jar and its tail feathers just below the wide framing line at the neck.  There is a pair of these birds, separated on the vessel wall by a small design incorporating black outlined red triangles.

This is a rare example of an early jar by Nampeyo with her name prominently painted on the underside, a jar with which she illustrated her desire to experiment with shapes, slips and designs. It obviously was a period when she was free to so as she wished rather than produce what was in demand.

Condition: this Hopi-Tewa Small Jar with Corrugated Neck by Nampeyo is in very good condition

Provenance: from the inherited collection of a family from Washington State.

Recommended Reading: The Legacy of a Master Potter: Nampeyo and her Descendants by Mary Ellen and Laurence Blair