Nampeyo Polychrome Pottery Vessel with Human Face [SOLD]

This polychrome pottery vessel was made by the influential Hopi-Tewa potter Nampeyo of Hano. It was likely made around 1905, when Nampeyo was living at the Hopi House, near the Grand Canyon. During this period, she made a wide variety of inventive pottery forms for sale to tourists. As is typical of works from this period, a label reading "From the Hopi Villages" appears on the base of the vessel.

A human face appears on the front of the vessel, with raised clay elements forming each facial feature. Painted pigments highlight the eyes, mouth, and eyebrows. An arch with pointed ends appears on the back of the vessel. Birds appear on each side, showcasing Nampeyo's ability to successfully create loose and spirited figurative compositions. The pigment tones—the typical black, and an unusual and beautiful maroon—work beautifully with the orange slip to create an appealing palette.

Nampeyo of Hano (1857-1942) was a widely influential potter who lived and worked on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. Nampeyo is regarded today as one of the finest Hopi potters and one of the most important figures in Native American pottery. Her work is displayed in museums and collections around the world. Little, if any, of her pottery is signed, but her work has been published and documented in detail and is easily identifiable to collectors. Nampeyo was taught how to make pottery by her grandmother and began earning an income as a potter while she was still just a teenager. Less interested in innovation than perfection, Nampeyo took an early interest in the design and form of ancient Hopi pottery, which she believed to be superior to the pottery being created by her contemporaries. She visited the ruins of ancient villages and copied designs from pieces of prehistoric and protohistoric pottery onto paper, then reproduced the designs on her own vessels.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Nampeyo Polychrome Pottery Vessel with Human Face is from the collection of a client of the gallery

Recommended Reading: The Call of Beauty: Masterworks by Nampeyo of Hopi, by Edwin L. Wade and Allan R. Cooke

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, Fannie Polacca Nampeyo, Nellie Nampeyo Douma, Annie Healing Nampeyo, Nampeyo of Hano, Hopi-Tewa Potter and Matriarch