2013-07 Three Bird Jar

Folk Art Bird Design

The shape of this jar is a typical Nampeyo family form, with a short neck, a wide shoulder used for decoration, and the widest girth about 1/3 up from the bottom. The pot fired evenly and without much blush. Three abstract birds parade around the pot’s shoulder. Two...

2012-24 White-Slipped Polychrome Jar with Parrots

Folk Art Bird Design, White-Slip Ware

This is an especially graceful vase that is both extraordinarily thin and well-formed, with an elegant polychromatic design that beautifully fits the form of the pot. “Graceful, extraordinary, elegant and beautiful”: you get the idea. The design is a variation of a...

2012-21 Five Hummingbird Bowl

Folk Art Bird Design

If there is a continuum from “fine” to “folk” art, this bowl is closest to the “folk” end than any other Nampeyo pot in the collection. Amusing and wonderful, a flock of hummingbirds buzz around the inside of this bowl. The image tickles the eye and is directly...

2011-28 Large Flying Birds Seedjar

1880s to 1900 Transition Ware, Folk Art Bird Design

This is a Hopi pot, made of Hopi clay using Sikyatki Revival form and techniques and probably made at First Mesa about 1900-1905. However the design has strong Zuni elements. The iconography is full of spirit, motion and humor – a classic piece of American folk art. A...

2010-24 Four-Bird Seedpot with Rain

Folk Art Bird Design

This pot is uniform and thin with a beautiful shape painted with four Sikyatki-derived birds. The narrow base flairs out to maximum width and then forms a wide shoulder as it curves back to the opening. The shape gives the jar an upward thrust that supports the flock...

2010-18 Vase with folk hummingbirds and flowers

Folk Art Bird Design

This vase has a graceful, flower-like shape with a base of about 3 inches, widening out to a maximum width of 4.75 inches and then curving inward to a mouth of 3.625 inches with an inward-sloping lip of .25 inches. The lip is painted black, as are wide-over-thin...