Hopi Black-on-cream Bowl with Polished Interior [SOLD]

It would be difficult to operate a house without the use of bowls.  Pueblo households have a tradition of making bowls of various shapes and sizes for the intended use.  The smallest bowls were and are used from which to eat, medium size bowls were and are used to bring large servings to the dining table.  The largest bowls, referred to as dough bowls, serve for making bread dough.  Some bowls found a second use in pueblo households as lids for jars.  Rather than make a lid that served only that function, a bowl could be used for many functions including being turned upside down over a jar as a lid when not in use for something else.

This Hopi bowl, however, was most likely made to be sold.  It does not show any signs of having been used at Hopi. 

The interior was stone polished and left without painted decoration.  The exterior rim rolls over to provide an area for the potter to display a series of designs.  There are eight divisions in which the potter painted the same design.  The main focus of the design is that of a stylized bird in the upper left of each panel and a split rectangle in the center.  Even the split rectangle design has the features of a Sikyatki stylized bird.

Condition: structurally in excellent condition.  Some abrasion to the brown painted areas.

Provenance: from the collection of a Colorado family

Recommended Reading: Contemporary Hopi Pottery by Laura Graves Allen