Adobe Gallery Blog

"Nequatewa states in his biography of Nampeyo that 'when she became a young maiden she was as good a potter as any in Walpi, and she did all the decorating for the old lady, her father's mother, a Tewa lady and her teacher, as she had become a good pottery designer.'  He went on to say that 'when the stores were established on the reservation by the white traders, she was doing a good deal of pottery work, so that when the stores began to trade for pottery, her work was among the best, and she was getting good prices.'" Allen, 1984:21

By 1900, the Polacca Polychrome pottery of the past was no longer being made, instead what replaced it was a yellow ware with black and red painted designs, with a slip that did not crackle like the Polacca slip.  It was then that Nampeyo was encouraged to reproduce pottery of the style being excavated.  She, instead, used those excavated ceramics as inspiration for her work.  She was not interested in copying others.

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