Hopi Pottery Tile with Unidentified Katsina Face [SOLD]

Barbara Polacca is a Hopi-Tewa of the Spider Clan who has been an active potter since 1970.  She is an accomplished potter known for making seed jars, cylindrical vases, bowls, canteens and tiles.  She painted the face of a katsina on this tile. Tiles have been a popular collector's item for over a hundred years. The Hopi-Tewa potters have always been more prolific than the Rio Grande Pueblos in making them.

I have heard two explanations for their early appearance in the late 1800s.  One is that potters made tiles with small amounts of left-over clay, fired them, then crushed them for use as a tempering agent in new pottery.  The other explanation is that trader Thomas V. Keam encouraged the potters to paint the tiles and fire them so he would have small items for sale.  In either event, it appears that the Hopi-Tewa potters had the idea first. 

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Oklahoma which is downsizing its enormous collection of Native American art.

Recommended Reading: Hopi & Pueblo Tiles—an Illustrated History by Kim Messier & Pat Messier