2014-08 Simple, thick jar with rainbird and cloud designs

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Object ID:
2014-08

Artist:
Rosalie Talashie

Dimensions:
2.25” h X 2.5625” w

This thick-walled jar has a simple, undistinguished monochromatic design. The base is particularly thick with the walls somewhat thinner, leaving a pronounced ledge at the inside juncture.
A thick framing line encircles the neck, with the upper edge of the design forming a second line below. The straight lines in the design are confidently drawn.

What interests me about the jar is the signature: “R. Talashie,” which might the maden name for Rachael Sahmie. There are 19 other Rachael pots in this collection, the largest number for any current potter. I love Rachael’s work.

I will either send Rachael a photograph of 2014-08 or bring it woth me the next time we visit. If it is hers (and not brother Randall’s), it would likely be the oldest pot I have by this fine potter.

On 8/18/14 Rachael received photographs of this pot from me and called me in Houston. The pot is not hers, but was made by her former mother-in-law Rosalie Talashie. From the thinckness of the walls, Rachael thinks this was an early pot of hers. The Talashie and Sahmie familes have a long history together with a member of the Talashie family having helped nurse a member of the Sahmie family a couple of generations back.

Purchase History:
This simple jar was purchased “Buy it Now” on Ebay 3/16/14 from Becky Noehren of Arnolds Park, Iowa (receipt on file). In the listing she wrote that she was “down sizing my late husband’s (Bill Noehren’s) extensive collection of Hopi pottery.” In response to a question about provenance she wrote that “Sorry. I don’t know any history on the pot. He purchased a few pieces in Arizona in the 1980’s and the rest have been purchased online in the past 5 years.” Bill was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2006 and the medical treatments left him homebound a couple of years later. In response he began buying Hopi pottery online and “He loved handling the various pieces and rearranging them on the shelves and admiring each and every piece. They brought him much happiness in his final years.” (Email on file.) I never met the man; we share a sense of blessing.