Polychrome Pictorial Bowl by Nampeyo of Hano, circa1910 [SOLD]

This is an early 20^th century Polychrome pictorial bowl that has been attributed to the hands of Nampeyo. It is in very good original condition with the exception of two very faint hairline cracks at the rim. It has been authenticated by noted Hopi authority Dr. Edwin L. Wade and his letter of authentication is presented here:

From the Authentication Letter by Edwin L. Wade:

A FIGURATIVE POLYCHROME BOWL BY NAMPEYO C.1910

The imaginative genius of Nampeyo never ceases to impress Pueblo pottery enthusiasts. Her voracious artistic appetite for experimenting with sculptural shapes and strikingly original compositions was unrivaled by any other potter of her time.

It's unfortunate that the catchall ceramic denominator “Sikyatki Revival” has become synonymous with 20^th century Hopi pottery and particularly the work of this inspired visionary. Nampeyo freely incorporated a host of different prehistoric traditions and pan-Puebloan motifs and compositional layouts in her work, as is brilliantly illustrated in the bowl pictured above. She was anything but slavishly constricted to the dictates of one ceramic style.

The Sikyatki convention for internally subdividing the basin of bowls into two distinct design fields preponderantly rested on a one-third/two-thirds division. This became common with most of the early Hopi “revival” potters of the turn of the century. Nampeyo favored this configuration as well, but in this bowl she has moved towards a 50-50 equally proportioned division. This decision confronted her with a challenge to the typical decorative approach to “revival” bowls. The smaller design field was commonly left blank, painted red or minimally decorated. The larger field sported the primary composition hanging pendent from the smaller unit.

Well, this just wouldn't visually work in the above bowl. The proportionate balance of the two fields would be contrastive and competitive. Consequentially, she understood to unify the composition it was necessary to equally balance the designs within the upper register with those in the lower. This she accomplished with mastery.

The horizontal spread of the upper field with its central figurative bird-head, is beautifully offset by the three-pendant tail feather units anchoring like trusses the heavier upper design. Rather than the light motion filled compositions she is celebrated for this design has a monumental architectural feel to it. It's regal in its communicative power and aloof dignity. It also is one of the most unique compositions by this famed artist.

All the correct motifs are there to identify Nampeyo's hand, the rectangular connecting units from which black tipped feathers are suspended and which are internally defined by negative elements, the ubiquitous black D-shaped domes with projecting antennae, the meticulously executed check-boarding, and the skillful balancing of positive and negative designs.

The bird head is somewhat unusual, particularly with the 3-dimensional black modeling of the head feathers, but Nampeyo favored a wide range of avian forms.

The puzzle, which unfortunately will remain such, is what was the source of inspiration for this one of a kind composition? It feels Hopi in its visual weight, solemnity, and complexity but those are not the qualities associated with “revival” ceramics. Those are the traits consistent with Kiva murals and altars.

We find the same emphasis upon the horizontal pinioned by vertical slats, a central figurative element above framed by a box and a disked mobile similar to the floating domed checkerboards above the bowls bird.

Now, I'm not asserting that Nampeyo modeled this bowls composition upon the design of altars however, the aesthetic employed in the construction of these objects is far more compatible to the bowls composition than the standards of “Sikyatki Revival” ceramics.

Regardless of its origin the composition adorning this elegant vessel is a stand alone within the repertory of Nampeyo's work. It's beautiful, powerful and mysterious. What better accolades for a masterpiece of art?

A final observation regards the extraordinary original condition of this bowl. This vessel is approximately a century old yet it is essentially “as-new”. To someone who has never witnessed a ceramic of this age in such condition the sight can be quite thrilling. I am reminded of an occasion in which I viewed two Hopi kachina dolls, collected in 1906 which had remained in a storage vault until the late 1990's. The brightness and freshness of the painted colors was overwhelming. So too is it with this bowl. It was no doubt collected very soon after it was made, either directly from Nampeyo herself or from one of the various traders who represented her work-her brother, Thomas Pollacca, Juan Lorenzo Hubbell, Thomas Keam, Fred Harvey. The purchaser and subsequent owners have maintained the bowl in the pristine condition in which it remarkably remains today.

—Edwin L. Wade, Ph.D.