Hopi Polychrome High-shoulder Seed Jar [SOLD]

Jean is a daughter of Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo and the granddaughter of Rachel Namingha Nampeyo. Her great grandmother was Annie Healing Nampeyo, whose mother was Nampeyo of Hano.  Jean has seven siblings, all of whom are potters or Katsina doll carvers. Her brothers and sisters are Nyla Sahmie, Rachel Sahmie, Bonnie Chapella, Randy Sahmie, Andrew Sahmie, Foster Sahmie and Finkle Sahmie. Jean is the only member of the family who signs her name Sahme rather than Sahmie.  

Jean Sahme has certainly inherited the artistic talent from her famous Nampeyo family.  In this jar, she chose to use the Sikyatki migration pattern design but modified it to a contemporary style of her choosing.  The interlocking hooked pattern is of the Sikyatki tradition, but the squiggly lines in the brown paint are of her fertile mind.  She also attached eagle tail feather elements to the lower hook elements.  To provide room for this expanded design, she made the jar tall with a high shoulder. 

The application of the design was precise with curves and straight lines unimaginably rendered.  One has to marvel at the talent required to apply such a design using a primitive paint brush made from the leaf of a yucca plant and paints from mineral sources.  The outdoor firing produced a fire cloud on the lower body of the jar below the design panel.  It adds such interesting warmth to the jar.

Condition:  original condition

Provenance: from the collection of Dr. Allan Cooke, co-author of the book Canvas of Clay: Seven Centuries of Hopi Ceramic Art.  The jar was purchased by Dr. Cooke in 1991.

Recommended Reading:  Canvas of Clay: Seven Centuries of Hopi Ceramic Art by Edwin L. Wade and Allan Cooke