Tall Hopi Cylinder with Clay Appliqué at Rim [SOLD]

In the 1900-1910 periods, Nampeyo was potting at her prime. She was creative and continually improvising more varied work than in any earlier or later period. By the 1910 decade, she was producing for a collector market and was producing outstanding quality but with less improvisation. By the 1930s, she was producing more tactile work as her eyesight was failing.

Sometime in the late 1800s, Nampeyo sometimes added a row or rows of clay appliqué to her pottery.  There is one in the Milwaukee Museum with a collection date of 1895. This magnificent very large cylindrical jar features such a ring of clay near the rim. It is typical of Nampeyo’s construction, as she is known for introducing the tall shapes.  

The design on this jar is magnificent. There was no attempt to skimp on design. She filled every inch with wonderful elements.

Recent studies of excavated prehistoric sites at Chaco Canyon have revealed specimens of cylindrical jars. Anthropologist Patricia Crown, from the University of New Mexico, and a colleague from the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, analyzed potsherds and found traces of a compound of cacao. From their research, they have concluded that the cylindrical jars were used to hold chocolate in beverage form. Only a couple hundred complete jars have been found and most of them came from Pueblo Bonito, but many shards that would fit a cylindrical jar shape have been unearthed.

Based on their research, there is a history for pueblo cylindrical jars, but it is still likely that the reintroduction of them at Hopi was not for drinking chocolate beverages but for selling to collectors and tourists.

Condition: The jar is in excellent structural condition but there is some abrasion to the painted design, but not of great significance.

Provenance:  from a client to whom we previously sold this jar

Recommended Reading:  Nampeyo and Her Pottery by Barbara Kramer

Image: Nampeyo of Hano on the right with her daughter Fannie on the left - ca. 1930, courtesy of Rick Dillingham Fourteen Families In Pueblo Pottery.