Hopi Four Color Polychrome Jar by Mark Tahbo [SOLD]

This beautiful four-color polychrome jar came to us fresh from the fire.  Its origin story, though not unusual, explains why Hopi potter Mark Tahbo’s work is sought after by collectors of contemporary and historic pottery alike.  After being inspired by a specific piece of historic pottery that struck him as unique and worthy of modern reinvention, Tahbo created this vessel to both update and pay tribute to his source of inspiration.

Like many of Mark Tahbo’s recent works, the inspiration for this jar came from a design that was originally created by Hopi matriarch Nampeyo of Hano.  Mark affectionately and endearingly referred to Nampeyo as “The Old Lady” while describing this piece to us.  He was drawn to this particular Nampeyo design because, to him, it seemed unusually modern and abstract.  The design was painted on the inside of a bowl, but he chose to reinterpret it twice on opposite sides of this excellent jar.

Mark Tahbo (1958- ) often places his designs within framing lines, but chose not to with this jar because the original image worked so well as a free-floating design inside Nampeyo’s bowl.  The most notable difference between Nampeyo’s and Tahbo’s versions is that Nampeyo’s design featured feather designs, which Tahbo chose to replace with his own elaborate diamond hatchwork.

The jar’s rim is marked with four sets of four short red lines symbolizing the cardinal directions, which have particular significance to the Hopi people.  The bottom of the jar is signed not with his name but with his Tobacco Clan symbol and the year of the jar’s creation.  He intends to continue signing this way—with his clan’s symbol instead of his name—in the future, as he believes that his work speaks for itself.  We think “The Old Lady” would agree.