2017-01 Vase with two Koyemsi effigy faces

Effigy, Kachina Design

Two applied Koyemsi heads grace this otherwise fairly ordinary Nampeyo vase. Decorating pots with raised decoration is unusual but not unknown at Hopi. The two painted designs on this vase are well below Nampeyo’s standards and create some uncertainty about the jar’s...

2016-09 Effigy vessel of scarlet macaw

Effigy, Folk Art Bird Design

This is a parrot with a pedigree. Hopi women produced very similar effigies more than 600 years ago. Judging from the size/weight of the effigy, the walls of this vessel are substantial but not thick, although the head may be solid. The blushing is of uniform color...

2014-17 Effigy pot with mountain sheep heads and handle

Effigy, Kitsch, White-Slip Ware, White-slipped, Nampeyo

5.063” h (including about 0.9” of handle above the rim) X 6.0” w X 10.125” long including the two mountain sheep heads, one short-necked head is about 1.75” long the other, longer-necked head is about 2.5” long The form of this bowl is “exocentric,” different than...

2013-24 Effigy Portrait of the Collector

Effigy

11.313” h X 10.438” w (finger to finger) X 3.563” d (belly-button to back). Slightly pudgy and wearing a mis-buttoned plaid shirt, this effigy appears to depict the owner of this collection of pottery, perhaps demonstrating the size of a Hopi pot that he failed to buy...

2013-14 Small Effigy Vessel with Molded Face

Effigy

This little guy is cute, well-formed, and has a larger brother in this collection. See 2007-16 for the sibling. The catalog entry for the larger effigy pot has a more-detailed discussion of Nampeyo and effigy pots and I will not repeat that discussion here. I...

2012-15 Navajo Large Bear Bank

Effigy

Bill Beaver fell in love with Navajo pottery when working at Chaco Canyon in the 1940s and Shonto Trading post in the 1950s. In 1960, he bought Sacred Mountain Trading Post 20 miles north of Flagstaff on Route 89. There, he began to promote Navajo pottery to the...