This is a classic Sikyatki revival pot. The clay is beautifully blushed and the abstract avian design is framed by substantial unpainted space that highlights the painting.
Of the potters working at Hopi today, Rachael’s work most successfully captures the sensibility of her Great-great-grandmother Nampeyo, who she calls simply “Grandmother Nampeyo.” Like Nampeyo, Rachael’s work is both carefully formed and painted and yet is not “perfect” This jar is a good example and as a result preserves some of the “folk art” heritage that I find so attractive. This sensibility has substantially disappeared at Hopi as potters respond to collectors who want ever-more-perfect pots.
At this point in her career her signature is a lightly inscribed RS written as a monogram that looks like a capital “B.” Technically Rachel is one of the best of the current Hopi potters. Earlier in her career Rachael formed pots that had unusual shapes and designs [2000-05 and 2003-04], but her Mother, Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo, encouraged her to return to more traditional Nampeyo forms and design and that’s how she spent the rest of her career. My friendship with Rachael lasted 37 years until her death in 2022. [See the entry for pot 2022-14.] Rachael told me that at times her hands would wake her up in the middle of the night looking to work on her pottery. Because of the beauty these hands created and the spirit of “Grandmother Nampeyo” that Rachael captured, this collection has more Rachel Sahmie pots than those by any other potter.
