- 1.625” width of handle.
- 0.4375” thickness of handle
- 0.125” thickness of bowl.
- 1.0” depth of bowl.
This is a well-formed, simple, utility ladle by Edith Nash. She was active in the 1940’s through the 1970’s. This is not an exceptional ceramic, but is typical of the competent pottery formed by many women at Hopi who made useful pottery when it was still dismissed as “a women’s craft.”
Form:
The loped handle with the tear-drop opening and wide scoop is the standard form for such utility ware. Notice that the handle tilts slightly to the left when viewed from the front. Judging from the point of the tear-drop opening, which was too constricted to slip and polish, it seems that the ladle is formed from yellow “sikyatska” clay that fired red. This implement is clearly signed “Edith Nash” on the bottom and shows an ear of corn, her clan.
Design Analysis:
The ladle is a blending of form and utility. Visually the tear-drop open center lightens the appearance of this utility object and leads a graceful sensibility to the scoop. The slight tilt of the handle is probably inadvertent, but that angle compensates for the arc of motion when the thumb of the right hand fits in the loop and the ladle is used as a scoop.
Four other ladles in this collection deserve mention since –together with 2025-04– they form a sequence of development from utility to art.
Undecorated ladles 2008-15a (long-handled) and 2008-15b (short handled) have the same form as 2025-04, but are unsigned and likely intended for home use. Ladle 2025-04 differs from this pattern only in that it is signed. The signature suggests it was intended to be sold, probably to a Pahana tourist. Historic ca 1895 ladle 2025-01 is richly-painted with a meaningful iconography, shows evidence of Indigenous use, and is (of course) unsigned. Finally ladle 2016-03 is both painted and signed and was clearly made for the tourist market.
Thus ladle 2025-04 bridges the boundary between an item designed for home use and an object intended to earn cash income. Since most pottery from Hopi was still not signed in the mid-1970’s, this signed ladle was probably made towards the end of Edith’s career. The elegance of its form is an expression of the Native value that all objects have spirit and beauty.
