2000-01 Stepped Prayer Bowl

Stepped prayer bowl with interior design of four tadpoles and exterior design of two rain clouds and two ears of corn with a firing burn mark. By Lorraine Shula, Walpi. It is not clear if the inspiration for this bowl is commercial (the design being very similar to widely sold Zuni prayer bowls, see 1989-03), or if it represents the continuation of a Hopi cultural tradition. Somewhat similar traditional Hopi medicine bows are frequently depicted by Alexander Stephen (1969:42); see also, a small photograph in Brody (1990:96, #67). For a similar pot by Nampeyo, see the Blairs (1999:139).