2019-17 Large batwing seedjar

2019-17 Large batwing seedjar

This is a conceptually simple pot with a powerful, elegant presence.  This collection has a number of pots with this “batwing” design (see Category list), but often the design seems casual, routine and does not intrigue my eye. An exception is the batwing...
2013-18 Jar with Appliqué and Painted Design

2013-18 Jar with Appliqué and Painted Design

This is not a particularly attractive pot, but it is a rare example of an innovative form, probably by Annie Healing. Although the walls of this pot are even and reasonably thin, the pot is heavy for its size because of the added appliqué coil of clay with eight...
2011-27 Small Bat Wing Bowl

2011-27 Small Bat Wing Bowl

This small bowl was among the last formed by Priscilla Namingha. It was left unfinished when she died in September 2008 and was painted about seven months later by her daughter, Jean Sahme. Writing on the bottom relates this history: Priscilla Namingha Sept. 2008...
2011-24 Fineline Bat-Wing Seedpot

2011-24 Fineline Bat-Wing Seedpot

This is an extraordinary seedpot painted with a fairly common design. (See “bat wing design” in the Index of Categories for other examples in this collection.) It’s not the design but the quality that startles. The form of 2011-24 is perfectly shaped and thin. Lowell...
2009-14 Small Seedpot – Polychromatic Batwing Design

2009-14 Small Seedpot – Polychromatic Batwing Design

This little pot exemplifies Fannie’s best painting. Fannie had the longest and most extensive pottery career of any of the Nampeyo daughters. Hundreds—probably thousands—of her pots are in museums and private collections, and many of them are “great” pots. To my eye,...
2009-13 Seedpot – Monochromatic Batwing Design

2009-13 Seedpot – Monochromatic Batwing Design

As with classic Nampeyo pots, the design of this jar is dynamic because of internal tensions in the design. The bat wing design both thrusts down and swings up. The pointed and curved black elements of design, which pull the eye down, counterbalance the upward thrust...