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First People Pots
an online catalog of 500+ pieces of Native American artwork owned by a private collector, described by Cowboys & Indians Magazine as “a valuable resource for collectors, galleries, and scholars.”
2022-12  Eleven-pot necklace with silver beads

2022-12 Eleven-pot necklace with silver beads

  The necklace has an overall length of 32 inches. The two ladles + two pipes average 0.532 “ h X 0.855” w X 2.0” long. The  four jars average 0.969" h X 1.00” w. The two canteens average 1.25” h X 1.50” w X 0.875” deep. The pendant...

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...

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...

2022-09  “M. TAH-VO” jar with eagle-tail variation

2022-09 “M. TAH-VO” jar with eagle-tail variation

This jar is a miniature masterwork: elegant of form and carrying a creative rendition of a classic design.  It's also a bit of a mystery since the signature —taken literally— is unknown.  Yet even if it had not...

2022-08  Bowl with everted rim depicting a rabbit hunt

2022-08 Bowl with everted rim depicting a rabbit hunt

This bowl is of ordinary size with a somewhat unusual everted rim.  The three sets of rim ticking are indicative of a pot made during the first quarter of the 20th century. The rabbit stick design is unique. Rabbit sticks...

2022-07  Large modern petroglyph tile

2022-07 Large modern petroglyph tile

Hopi is a matriarchal society. This is a clay tile by an artist of paternal Hopi descent who grew up at Zuni, currently lives at Zuni, and was trained as a potter at Hopi by Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo, the leading Hopi-Tewa potter of her...

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