Hopi Large Polychrome Jar by Feather Woman [SOLD]

Helen Naha (Feather Woman) and Joy Navasie (Frog Woman) were sisters-in-law. Helen Naha married Joy Navasie's brother, Archie Naha. The two families lived on a large ranch just east of Keam's Canyon on the Hopi Reservation.  Helen was known for her stark black-on-white Hopi pottery early in her career and for exquisite polychrome pots in later times. Her hallmark is a feather.

This jar is slipped in white clay from top to bottom over which the artist applied the design mostly in black with highlights in orange.  The design is, I believe, what is referred to as a bear claw.  The interior of the jar was fully burnished, something most potters do not do except on bowls.  This is a sign of a potter who went beyond the ordinary.

Condition:  The jar has a few minor abrasions but nothing that mars its beauty.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Minneapolis

Recommended Reading: Hopi-Tewa Pottery 500 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf