Hopi Eagle Tail Design Jar in Polychrome [SOLD]

This is a beautifully rich orange-colored seed jar rendered in a polychrome version of a Sikyatki design pattern. It is devoid of framing lines that normally enclose a design which permits the design to be free-floating rather than confined within a frame. The round opening of the jar is outlined in a square pattern of red which, in turn, is outlined in three parallel very fine black lines which form a box around the opening.  From this square design are suspended four "eagle tail" design elements, a design originally used by the ancestral Hopi at Sikyatki.

Fannie Nampeyo was an outstanding potter. She was one of three daughters of Nampeyo of Hano and was the last of the three to pass away. As a result, she is probably the best known of Nampeyo’s daughters. Fannie was particularly adept at making fine, well balanced vessels. She seemed to be particularly outstanding at applying just the right design to fit the scale and shape of the vessel.

Condition: the vessel is in excellent structural condition.  Some of the brown painted design was over-painted by the artist following the firing process, a technique often used by Hopi-Tewa potters when the brown color was not as strong as they desired.  The result is a lighter brown in the post-firing and darker brown in the fired process.

Recommended Reading: Nampeyo and Her Pottery by Barbara Kramer

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Oregon who purchased it in 1981 from Adobe Gallery