Hopi Very Large Sikyatki-style Seed Jar [SOLD]

Jacob Koopee, was the great grandson of Nellie Nampeyo, one of Nampeyo of Hano's three daughters.  He had studied the art of pottery making under his "aunt" Dextra Quotskuyva.  He was known for making the finest pottery from Hopi, along with Dextra and Priscilla Nampeyo, and he made some of the largest pottery ever made at Hopi.

This seed jar is a magnificent example of his very large (19 inches in diameter) jars.  It was made in 2003.  The whole upper shoulder of this great Sikyatki-style seed jar, reintroduced by Nampeyo in the late 1800s, is covered with design elements.  There are a number of Katsina faces and many bird elements as well as circles, curves, lines, diamonds and other geometric shapes.  Koopee used native materials for paints and some of the colors remind one of the Painted Desert.  There are beautiful pastel shades as well as micaceous clay. 

This seed jar has to be of Koopee's finest pottery vessels ever made.  It truly is a masterpiece in size and design and is a perfect cone from the small base to the mid body. 

Condition:  original condition

Provenance:  from a family in California who had originally purchased it from Martha Struever in 2003.

Recommended Reading: Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artist Biographies by Gregory and Angie Schaaf