This exquisite round Hopi tile executed in black pigment on red clay features the image of the Palhikmana Katsina with her elaborate headdress.  It has a pair of holes at the top so that it could be worn as a pendant or hung on a wall.  It is not signed with the name of the potter.

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This small Hopi pottery tile is designed with a moth typical of that used by Hopi potter Grace Chapella, however, it is not signed so we do not attribute it to any specific potter.  It has a pair of holes at the top to facilitate wearing it as a pendant or hanging it on a wall.

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It is often difficult to make a determination of origin of Laguna Pueblo pottery because it is so closely similar to that from Acoma, for good reason.  Laguna is, relatively speaking, a recent pueblo, having been established in 1699, although Laguna people say that the pueblo was previously occupied as early as circa 1400, however, the current villages date to 1699.  Residents of Acoma, Zia, Zuni and other pueblos jointly settled the new pueblo.  Because of its close proximity to Acoma, the pottery from Laguna resembles that of its neighbor.  The same clay, same temper, and similar designs predominate between the two pueblos.

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This floral design Zia Pueblo pottery tile has a paper label attached to the back that has the name Benina Medina written on it, presumably the name of the potter.  According to her granddaughter, Reyes Madalena, Benina Medina was born at Zia Pueblo in 1873. She married Ramon Madalena from Jemez Pueblo in the late 1890s.  She was an accomplished potter having won prizes at Santa Fe's Indian Market in the 1920's. After moving to her husband's pueblo, she was instrumental in reintroducing a pottery making tradition to Jemez Pueblo.

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There was a time at Hopi when there were concerns by some of the older generation about making katsina dolls for sale to non-Indians.  Yet, the allure of the financial aspect of selling them was appealing.  To overcome this dilemma, a Hopi elder named Wilson Tawaquaptewa solved the concern for himself by making katsina dolls that were not true representations of Hopi Katsinas. 

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Melons were among the earliest plants to be domesticated in both the Old and New Worlds. Early European settlers in the New World are recorded as growing honeydew and casaba melons as early as the 1600s. A number of Native American tribes in New Mexico, including Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Navajo, Santo Domingo and San Felipe, maintain a tradition of growing their own characteristic melon cultivars, derived from melons originally introduced by the Spanish. 

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When Nampeyo was first making pottery, she was most likely making only utilitarian wares as that is what she had learned from her mother, White Corn, who passed away sometime between 1901 and 1909.  Nampeyo's mother and grandmother were her mentors.  It was not until Nampeyo's husband Lesso was working with the excavation party at the prehistoric Hopi Sikyatki Pueblo ruins, that Nampeyo was introduced to the magnificent prehistoric Sikyatki pottery shards that would influence her life's work and that of her descendants.

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Serpents are often seen as symbols of water in the iconography of the Southwestern Native American. The curves of the serpent suggest the rolling waves of water. Water is essential to survival in the arid desert. This serpent ring features a large coral stone set in a silver bezel and surrounded by silver leaf motifs and a serpent wrapped around the coral with head and rattler overlaid over the coral.  The initials CM are stamped on the ring.

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Navajo jewelry of the mid-20th Century was characterized by the use of silverwork and stamping to highlight the beauty of a single stone or stones. This small coral pendant is a good example of how Navajo smiths used silverwork to focus the eye on the stone. 

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The earliest Navajo jewelry was made by filing designs into plain silver obtained from coins, flatware and ingots. By the 1920s, smiths began using sheet silver and the addition of dies and stamps became common. By the mid-20th Century the addition of floral motifs and leaves began.

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This silver and coral necklace is a significant piece for many reasons. The quality of the coral, the excellent craftsmanship, and the collection from which it came each alone would be a reason to make this a treasured item. The bright red coral cabs used in this necklace are considered to be quite rare as harvesting of coral has become limited. This necklace features nine beautiful coral cabs, each set meticulously in a hand-tooled silver shadowbox.  The shadowboxes are spaced apart by hand made beads, both round and tubular. The excellent craftsmanship of artist Henry Clark Smith is evident. 

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The Hupa live in the very northwest corner of California.  They were relatively isolated until 1850 when gold was discovered and white settlers moved in.  In 1864, the U. S. Government established the Hupa Reservation, moved invaders off the land, thus protecting their area for the future.

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It was documented around 1900 that basket making was practiced in nearly every Pima home.  Twenty years later it was stated that not one out of ten women could weave a creditable basket.  In that 20 years, commercial utilitarian vessels became available so it is not unexpected that they would replace hand-woven baskets for home use.  Since collectors and tourists were only willing to pay one to two dollars for a basket, the women realized that it was not worth their time to make them any longer.  They could earn that per hour doing field work. 

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Much praise has been bestowed on Marie Z. Chino for the magnificent pottery she made in the fifty years she devoted to the craft and the praise is certainly earned.  Chino was a master potter and it is understandable why collectors admire her work so enthusiastically.  She was certainly one of the Acoma potters who made particularly important contributions to the art of pottery making in the period following World War II. Chino was making Southwest Indian pottery as early as the 1920s.

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There are four Native tribes of Yuman-speaking people.  They are known today as the Quechans (formerly known as Yumas) Mohaves, Cocopas, and Maricopas.  All these tribes formerly made baskets but that has long since ceased.  The Maricopa produce pottery today.

The Maricopa formerly consisted of small groups of people situated on the banks of the Colorado River for centuries. In the 16th century, they migrated to the area around the Gila River, to avoid attacks by the Quechan and Mojave peoples. During the 1840s, epidemics took a toll on the tribe. In the 19th century, the Maricopa formed a confederation with the Pima They became successful farmers, however, drought and water diversion by non-Indians brought widespread crop failures.

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This is an exceptionally fine Acoma Pueblo Polychrome bowl, dating from around 1900 or earlier..  It was traditionally formed from native clay with ground pottery shard temper, coated with a rag-wiped white slip, painted black rim, and an orange/red underbody with a flat base, typical of Acoma pottery of that period. The design was painted in deep brown and dark orange/red pigments

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 Julian Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo favored eagle feather designs for much of the pottery he painted for Maria.  Santa Clara potters often used eagle feather design on their pottery as well.  In this jar, Linda Tafoya carved eagle feathers in parallel lines encircling the body of the jar in an upright position.  It is a sense of great respect and honor by Native Americans to include eagle feathers as design elements in pottery.

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Hopi Large Seed Jar with Sikyatki Style Birds by Rainy Naha.

Rarely is Hopi-Tewa pottery as thin-walled as Acoma pottery but, in this instance, Rainy Naha has achieved that.  Thin-walled is one attribute and finely constructed is another.  The jar is well balanced and beautifully slipped in creamy white clay that has been stone polished to a beautiful burnish. 

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Laguna Pueblo Black on White Long Neck Jar by Robert Kasero.

At first glance, one might think of Dorothy Torivio when first seeing his pottery - but he is a new generation potter who is mixed heritage Hopi and Laguna Pueblos.  He began his artistic career as a katsina doll carver but under the influence of Paula Estevan he became a potter. 

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Tall Polished and Carved Red Jar by Luann Tafoya.

Lu Ann Tafoya, a daughter of Margaret Tafoya, certainly inherited the talent to produce beautifully sculpted jars with outrageously burnished surfaces. She has made jars almost three feet tall, a feat not easily accomplished. Her grandmother, Sara Fina Tafoya, was a masterful potter, as was her mother, Margaret Tafoya, who, in turn, passed on this artistic gene to nine children and numerous grandchildren. 

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