2014-02 Seedpot with Hummingbird and Flowers

Folk Art Bird Design

While pot 2014-02 is termed a “seedpot,” its form is totally impractical with only a pinhole for an opening, the minimum necessary to let hot gases escape during firing. The form of this modern pot is intended to be elegant and provide the maximum canvass for...

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...