Nampeyo was an artistic genius.  She was a Hopi-Tewa living at First Mesa who was going about her duties as a mother and wife, taking care of children, meals and making pottery for use in her home.  Her talents in making pottery were early recognized by trader Thomas Keam, who, when he needed someone to make pottery for his business, chose Nampeyo. He recognized her as the best potter at Hopi.

When one looks at this jar, there is no question that she was a great artist.  It must qualify as one of the most creative and beautiful jars of the time.  One can feel Nampeyo's presence when rubbing the inside of the rim of the jar where her hands formed the nearly flat top.  There are probably fingerprints inside the rim.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this Hopi Pueblo pottery?

When Maria Martinez produced plain blackware without having a family member paint on a design, she signed her name as Maria Povéka.  According to Richard Spivey, Maria started signing with the Maria Povéka name in 1956 when she began collaborating with Popovi Da.  This was an attempt to distinguish between pottery she alone completed versus those that were collaborations with Popovi Da.  Spivey states that Maria abandoned the Povéka signature in the mid-1960s.  After that, all pieces were signed Maria/Popovi whether decorated or not.  Spivey 2003

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery? 

Native repairs on a pottery vessel is an indication of its importance to the owner as an item with which she would have need for household use.  Minor cracks can be stabilized on a dough bowl such as this one by wrapping a wire or rawhide around the rim as a cinch.  Additionally, the crack or cracks can be covered in piñon pitch as a sealant to prevent eventual chipping and worsening of the crack.  This historic pottery bowl has both remedies.  There is wire wrapped around the bowl just under the rolled-out rim and it has an elaborate hooking tie.  There are remnants of piñon pitch over three vertical rim cracks.  Most of the piñon has fallen off but enough remains to identify it. 

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery?

Many types of katsinas carry a rattle, called aaya or aya, in one hand when they participate in a plaza dance. The rattle is made from a dried, painted gourd and filled with pebbles or dry corn kernels and then fitted with a wooden handle. It makes a clattering sound as it is shaken.

Aya Katsina is a katsina whose head looks like the brightly painted rattles that are among the gifts given by katsinas to children at Powamu and Niman ceremonies. The head of the Aya Katsina resembles the painted design found on gourd rattles.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this katsina doll?

There is a charm to small pottery vessels that gets lost in larger size ones.  Perhaps it is our association with small children and small animals that always attracts our attention.  This small jar not only is charming, it has a most unusual and concentrated design pattern for its size.  There are four design panels on the body that occupy the space from the shoulder to the base.  Each of the four is densely compact with bold black lines, filled in with fine lines in black and red, rain clouds attached to the sides and hearts at the top and bottom.  The neck design is a sweeping rain bird filled with fine lines.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery? 

Collectors of contemporary pottery today are very interested in purchasing pieces that are signed by the artist. This was not true in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was sufficient to select a piece based on its personal appeal to the potential collector. Most of the late 19th and early 20th century pieces are not identified with a potter.

Most mid- to late-20th century pottery is signed with a potter's name, however, there are some in which the potter either failed to sign or perhaps was not able to write her name. The lack of a signature does not invalidate an item of pottery.  It can be just as beautiful as one signed with a potter's name.  Generally, an unsigned pottery vessel is less expensive but not less desirable.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery?

Written in pencil on the body of this pitcher is "Found in Acoma in 1880 Navajo Indian."  Of course, this is not of Navajo origin and quite possibly might not be of Acoma origin, but is likely a product of Laguna Pueblo, and circa 1880 is a reasonable date to ascribe to it.  It has a band of decoration painted in that deep red clay that has not generally been used since 1900.

The dark red and dark orange rainbow bands, supplemented by dark brown designs, provide a design that is strong visually.  It makes this small pottery vessel stand out among larger pieces that are weaker in color. 

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery?

Mary Mackie says:  Bear Paw symbol in Pueblo pottery.

Mary Says: July 21, 2017 Getting Ready for the Hopi Show 

We are continuing to learn about Hopi pottery, about the genius of Nampeyo and her influence on the generations of young potters who have followed in her footsteps. As I look at each piece in the collection and at the new pieces that come to us, it is the scope of Nampeyo’s talent that seems to amaze me. She had an uncanny ability to use the pot, not just as a vessel, but as a canvas for her interpretation of things she saw, feelings she had, or just what she thought would please someone.  

So, it’s really not hard to understand why, at the turn of the century, a great number of museums worldwide collected Nampeyo’s work. Nampeyo’s work is found in museums in Germany, England, Norway as well as numerous locations in the United States. Her artistic genius was recognized and appreciated by scholars worldwide.

So, now 100 years after she made them, her pieces are here at Adobe Gallery. I am thrilled to be able to look at and hold these incredible objects of art. When you look at her pieces, take the time to look at how her designs just fit the shape of the vessell perfectly. 

-Mary Mackie

Anticipation around here is growing and on August 7th, 2017, the Hopi show will hit the shelves of Adobe Gallery. Ever since Al decided we were going to have a Hopi show, there seems to have been an uncanny series of coincidences. People we have never met somehow have found their way to us with Hopi treasures they no longer want. People we haven't heard from in years have contacted us looking for "that perfect Hopi pot" to complete their collection. Mark Tahbo has been on a creative streak, each piece he sends us is more and more amazing. Mark also shared some of the work of his cousin, Debbie Clashin.

For my part, I have gone back to reading about Hopi, I am fascinated by the stories of early visitors to Hopi and their interactions with Hopi potters. First is Thomas Keam. What possessed a young Englishman to leave his home, sail around the world, join the US Army and end up in a small canyon in Arizona? Arizona wasn't even a state when he arrived, the railroad was almost 10 years away. Yet, this young man learned two crazy difficult languages, Hopi and Navajo, married a Navajo woman and was responsible for the commercialization of Pueblo pottery. He was the starting point, in a way, in a long series of events that eventually leads to our show.

Here is a link to the show:

A Century of Hopi-Tewa Pottery: From Nampeyo of Hano to Mark Tahbo

(click here to view)

Tonita Vigil Peña (1893-1949) Quah Ah moved from San Ildefonso Pueblo to Cochiti Pueblo when her mother passed away.  She was only 12 years old at the time and she then lived with her aunt and uncle until she married at age 15.  She lived at Cochiti for the remainder of her life and passed away in 1949.

By the time Tonita was 25 years old, she was a successful easel artist, and her work was being shown in museum exhibitions and in commercial art galleries in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. She painted what she knew best - scenes of life at the pueblo - mostly ceremonial dances and everyday events. She is still considered one of the best female Indian artists of all time.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this painting?

The chapter devoted to dough bowls in the book The Pottery of Zia Pueblo (see reference link below) does not show any examples of dough bowls with floral designs although they do show dough bowls dating as late as 1940.  This dough bowl has all the attributes of a circa 1880 dough bowl, except perhaps for its design.  We maintain that collections made by the Smithsonian and other museums in the late 1800s possibly overlooked bowls with floral designs in preference for those with Trios Polychrome designs.

"The large four-petaled red flowers. . . placed on long, curving stems, have other parallels that may be dated before 1887. Harlow & Lanmon 2003 p.210.  There are many Zia jars from the late 1800s with floral designs so it is not unexpected that the design would be used on dough bowls too.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this historic Zia pottery?

The Great Horned Owl Katsina, as a warrior, is relentless in persecuting the clowns. He stands to the edge of the dance circle while the clowns are performing and he watches disapprovingly of their antics as they perform their un-Hopi-behavior.  Near the end of the dance, a group of Mongwa swoops down on the clowns and beat them with yucca whips, douses them with water, and leaves them piled up in the center of the plaza in pain.

This carving of a Mongwa features him with a yucca whip in one hand and a bow in the other.  He appears to be waiting until the clowns finish their dance.  This is an elaborate carving and is probably no later than the 1940s, perhaps earlier.  It is primitive in a way but charming as well.  It is not signed with the name of a carver but does have the notation K-7 painted on the underside. 

Would you like to purchase or read more about this katsina doll?

Some of the older Hopi men had difficulty reconciling making traditional katsina dolls to be sold to tourists because of conflicts with the traditional meaning of the dolls to the Hopi people. Katsina dolls were made as gifts from the Katsinam to the Hopi females as a means of including them in the Katsinam ceremonies that were practiced by the Hopi men.  To some of the older men, carving the dolls for sale was degrading and perhaps sacrilegious to their meaning.  Wilson Tawaquaptewa was one of the most famous carvers with such feelings.

To prevent defying their religious beliefs in the Katsina culture, yet, to be able to participate in the money-making business of selling katsina dolls to tourists, some of these men made dolls that did not accurately reflect the true katsinas.  The carvings looked like authentic katsinas but were not accurate in the portrayal of a specific katsina.  They may have had features of several katsinas combined to appear to reflect an existing katsina but did not violate their belief in the meaning of true katsinas. 

Would you like to purchase or read more about this katsina doll?

The Left Handed Katsina is so called because he carries his bow in his right hand rather than in his left. In fact, he generally does everything backwards. The reason for this is not clear. The Hopi say he came to them from the Chemehuevi Indians. He appears quite frequently in a great many dances, like the Mixed Kachina dance, in groups in the kivas or separately as a warrior in the Powamu Ceremony. He may act as a prompter in a dance or be found making odd little bows and taking small mincing steps at the edge of a procession.  A great deal of the time he has trouble with Hó-e when they appear in the same dance. - Wright 1973

Would you like to buy or read more about this katsina doll? 

This rug from Two Grey Hills region of the Navajo Reservation was woven from all natural wool, probably from the weaver's own stock of sheep.  The wool used was from brown and white sheep only.  The light background tan color was achieved by carding white and brown wool with more white wool than brown.  The other shades of brown were achieved in the same manner, but with more or less of one color of wool. The weaver, by not using black wool in the weaving, achieved a soft and mellow palette to the textile. 

The weave of the rug is more suited for floor use than most Two Grey Hills textiles that are made of tapestry weave and therefore more suited as wall hangings.  The soft color palette would be easy to decorate with.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this rug?

Tony Da was first a painter before becoming a potter.  He began using casein paints in the 1950s and painted until he apprenticed to his grandmother, Maria Martinez, in the late 1960s.  After 1972, he did very little painting and became a famous potter.

Tony was enchanted with the art of the Mimbres Indians of New Mexico and many of his paintings reflect that interest.  This painting is an excellent example of such.  It is his version of a Quail in the way a Mimbres painter might have painted it on the inside of a pottery bowl.  Of course, the Mimbres only painted images in black pigment on white pottery, but Tony expanded the color palette.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this painting?

Dan Namingha (1950- ) is from the Hopi-Tewa village of First Mesa.  He is a member of the famous Nampeyo family.  His mother is Dextra Nampeyo and his grandmother was Rachel Namingha Nampeyo. He was born in 1950 and attended High School at Keams Canyon, Arizona, the University of Kansas and then the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe where he came under the influence of Otellie Loloma who encouraged him to experiment with his art.  He began his art career painting in realistic style and then, around 1972, began to paint in a more abstract manner. Teachers at IAIA, such as Otellie Loloma, Allan Houser, and Fritz Scholder, encouraged the students to expand their horizons and paint creatively, which many did. 

Would you like to purchase or read more about this painting?

This large jar was made about 25 years ago by Lonnie Vigil and it is in excellent original condition. It displays a beautiful array of fire clouds. It is signed on the bottom with the artist's name and pueblo.  The jar was awarded an Honorable Mention at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1991.

The lower 1/3rd of the jar is ribbed because of the jar having been started in a basket, the old-fashioned way of a hundred years ago.  Lonnie not only has revived micaceous pottery at Nambe Pueblo, but has revived the ancient way in which it was formed.  His masterful firing technique produced beautiful fire clouds on the shoulder of the jar.

Would you like to purchase or read more about this pottery?

The painting of a Hunter Communicating with a Deer was executed in watercolor on handmade paper.  It is floated on backing material to permit the entire paper to be visible and free of mat covering.  It is signed in lower right with the artist's native name and dated 1996. 

Robert Montoya was born in 1947, and is the son of Ohkay Owingeh painter and former Santa Fe Indian School art department head, Gerónima Cruz Montoya. Mrs. Montoya began her teaching career as assistant to Dorothy Dunn. Robert Montoya has multiple degrees in architecture and has experience as an architect.  He resides at Sandia Pueblo.

Would you like to buy or read more about this painting?