This small bowl is fairly thick with a monochromatic design on the exterior and is undecorated on its interior. The bowl has good blushing from its outdoor firing. The external design is fairly simple, consisting of a line around the bowl about 0.4” below the rim, a band of 36 irregular triangles above this line and 12 counter-clockwise crooks below the line. The size of these design elements is irregular. The bottom is outlined with a thick line.
The bowl is signed, “D. Kaye 2011” followed by a corn symbol. Dalton is the son of Candy (Candice) Nampeyo (2005-07).
This is the second bowl in the collection by Dalton. (See 2010-16 for the other.) Both pots were bought from eBay seller “dlplscp,” a major seller of Hopi items on the internet. The other pot is marked 2010 and gives his age as 11 years old. Bowl 2011 is marked as made in 2011, while Dalton was apparently still 11 years old.
Pot 2010-16 is much more finely formed and painted than bowl 2011-29. Furthermore, 2010-16 has a well-formed ear of corn emerging from the center with leaves folding down to the sides, a complicated construction form. In contrast, bowl 2011-29 looks like it was made by an 11-year-old potter learning his craft. Bowl 2010-16 looks like it was made by a much more skilled potter. The 2010 bowl was probably kiln-fired; 2011-29 was certainly fired outdoors. There’s a story here, but I’m not sure what it is. Perhaps the earlier bowl was made in a school art class with the help of a teacher and fired in a kiln at the school. Perhaps Candy helped her son make the earlier pot but now he is sufficiently assured to make the second pot on his own. It’s not clear.
Dalton is six generations removed from his Great-great-great-great grandmother “Old Lady” Nampeyo. It will be fun to see how his craft develops.
