Hopi Pueblo Second Mesa Coiled Animal Pictorial Basketry Plaque by Annabelle Nequatewa

This Second Mesa plaque made by Hopi Pueblo weaver by Annabelle Nequatewa carries out a theme of reverence for animals.  From the basket’s central coils, animal heads with imbricated face stitching emerge.  Four red heads and four black heads appear, alternating with one another, and likely referencing the four directions.  They follow one another in a circle around the plaque’s central band of white yucca.

The yucca stitching varies in shade from light to darker, providing an interesting palette.  Triangular step designs in red and yellow emerge from the rim, pointing in toward the animals.   The plaque is finished with a solid black coil around its rim.  There is a loop on the back for hanging.

Hopi baskets are rich in beauty and cultural significance. Like the pottery produced at First Mesa, the wicker baskets made at Third Mesa and the coiled ones made at Second Mesa celebrate their makers' connection with the land. Even today, these baskets are made using little more than plant materials and sunlight. The creation of one basket requires countless hours of work and a great deal of knowledge. Their significance to the Hopi people cannot be understated. They are used as gifts, prizes, currency and—most significantly—a wide variety of ceremonial purposes.

A client of the gallery called to inform us that she had purchased this plaque directly from the artist Annabelle Nequatewa years ago. We are pleased to know the name of the artist and to add that information to our website. Annabelle Nequatewa was born in 1931 at the village of Shungopavi. She has been making baskets since the 1950s and has been an award winner at several venues. She is featured prominently in Helga Teiwes book "Hopi Basket Weaving—Artistry in Natural Fibers". Teiwes said "Annabelle excels in making coiled plaques and deep baskets. On another occasion I photographed her working on a large basket that, when finished, measured twenty-two inches high and twenty-three inches wide. It had four Katsina faces, with four ears of corn between them. . . . One particularly large plaque amazed me, and she said that it took her a very long time to make it." [1996:91]

Condition: this Hopi Pueblo Second Mesa Coiled Animal Pictorial Basketry Plaque by Annabelle Nequatewa is in very good condition

Provenance: 

- from a private Santa Fe collection

- from the large collection of a gentleman from California

Reference: Teiwes, Helga. Hopi Basket Weaving-Artistry in Natural Fibers University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1996.

Recommended Reading: AMERICAN INDIAN BASKETS I 1,500 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

TAGS: Southwest Indian Basketry, Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, Annabelle Nequatewa