2022-10  Small bear effigy

2022-10 Small bear effigy

This is a small Hopi/Tewa clay effigy, a form not often seen at First Mesa.  Its size, shape and subject are more often seen as carved stone fetishs from Zuni.  It is  included in this collection because its maker, Kenneth Lynch, is the son of Nyla Sahmie.  A 1983...
2021-19  Hopi sandal napkin ring

2021-19 Hopi sandal napkin ring

This sandal is pure kitsch, and like all great kitsch it makes me smile: especially those little toe prints.  Obviously it is tourist art and I don’t know if it was peddled with a purpose.  I think of it as a napkin ring.   Well-formed and carefully painted, it...
2020-08 Modern Sikyatki Macaw effigy pot, Zuni clay

2020-08 Modern Sikyatki Macaw effigy pot, Zuni clay

Photographs: King Galleries This effigy of a Macaw parrot has historical roots that bridge two pueblos: Hopi and Zuni.  On the one hand it was formed by a Hopi man and is closely modeled after examples from the ancient Hopi village of  Sikyatki, like the one included...
2019-21  Runner: pueblo revolt mask

2019-21 Runner: pueblo revolt mask

The head is 3.06″ wide (ear-to-ear) and 2.375″ deep (nose to back).  The walls are about 0.5″ thick.  The rawhide is about 4.75″ long. The clay used for the mask fired a light brick red.  The glaze appears to be commercial and fired at a high...
2019-20 Hopi maiden statue

2019-20 Hopi maiden statue

The statue is 7.125″ deep (front to back) at the base; 6.125″ deep, chest to the lip of the spout. This collection contains a number of Hopi effigy pots (see category listing), but nothing that approaches the form, detail or expressiveness of this work by...
2019-13  Hunky man statue

2019-13 Hunky man statue

1.3125 deep at hat; 1.5625″ deep at feet. This hunky man is a curious, delightful oddity by two friends, one the teacher of the other, Mark Tahbo and Larson Goldtooth. I do not yet know what each man contributed to the formation of the figure. Larson is the only...