This plate, made of yellow clay (fires red), has an image of Pahlik Mana drawn in black. Four small firing cracks extend from the edge near the lower part of the image. Candy (Candice James Kaye) is a talented young artist. The image of the Pahlik Mana is well-executed, although—like the earlier Mark Tahbo pot (1992-02)—the design on is not “perfect.” The slight imperfections (and the fact that the image is not exactly centered on the plate) give the image energy and power, and so do the series of triangular whirlwind designs at the apex of her headdress. Small crosses in the “fleurs de les” are reminiscent of some of the work of her aunt (and teacher) Darlene James Nampeyo (see 1988-02 and 1989-02).
When Candy began making this piece in 2004, she intended it to be a piki bowl. Some older women had asked her to make the bowl in preparation for some social dances scheduled for late 2004. When the dances were canceled, Candy was left with the unfinished bowl. When she met Bill and me on 1/11/05 at Hopi, she mentioned that she was “having some trouble” with the bowl; apparently, she had discovered a bubble in the clay when she was sanding the pot. “It’s the first thing I’ve really done with yellow clay, except for a few ‘insignificant’ miniatures,” she wrote in a note. During the winter, she rescued the piece by cutting the piki bowl down to form a plate; in May, she called me to ask if I would be interested in buying it. Oddly, the first pot in the collection with a kachina design is also made of yellow clay, fired red (see 1987-03).
See “Kachina Design” in the Category List for a complete listing of pots in this collection using variations of this design.
For a pot by Candy’s son Dalton (age 11), see 2010-16.
