2022-14 Large vase with a flock of abstract birds

2022-14 Large vase with a flock of abstract birds

  This vase displays a mural of abstract birds, Hopi messengers to the gods.  For me those birds also carry substantial emotions. This is the last pot I bought directly from Rachael, who was gravely ill. I was able to visit her at her ancestral home in Polacca on...
2022-13 Modern Sikyatki eagle tail jar

2022-13 Modern Sikyatki eagle tail jar

This large seedpot is both art and experiment.  Its design is a particularly elaborate rendition of an ancient design revitalized by Nampeyo in the late 19th century, inherited by generations of her family, and adopted by other potters at Hopi.  The pot was fired...
2022-11  Small pot by Zella Nampeyo

2022-11 Small pot by Zella Nampeyo

This is a particularly undistinguished Hopi-Tewa pot.  It is included in this collection because of its historical, not aesthetic, value. Its maker, Zella Nampeyo, is the daughter of Nellie, Nampeyo and Lesso’s third child and middle daughter.  Nellie was not as...