Polished Black Seed Jar with Sgraffito Design [SOLD]

Haungooah means “sunlight reflecting off a buffalo horn” in the Kiowa language. Art Cody was the grandson of famous Kiowa ledger artist Silver Horn, who was known as Haungooah. Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, the younger Haungooah became an innovative artist. In the late 1960s, Cody was among the first artists to use the sgraffito technique on pueblo pottery. He married a talented Santa Clara Pueblo potter, Martha Suazo, who encouraged him to decorate her pieces. Together they won numerous prizes during the 1970s. They signed their work “Haungooah” in honor of Cody’s grandfather. When Martha passed away sometime after 1979, he continued to create and decorate his own work, until his untimely death only a few years later in 1985.

This beautifully stone-polished jar has a sienna medallion with the image of a Mimbres ram with an absolutely humorous expression. Above the ram’s head is an arch and a feather. Above the sienna medallion is a bird’s head and the body stretches down the side of the medallion.  On the opposite side is a buffalo horn and possibly a bat.

The seed jar is signed Haungooah and there is a line drawing of a kokopelli under the signature.

Condition: this Polished Black Seed Jar with Sgraffito Design is in very good condition
Provenance: from the estate of a family from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Recommended Reading:  Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies, c. 1800-Present by Gregory Schaaf