Red Sgraffito Seed Pot with Mimbres Grasshopper [SOLD]

Art Cody was the grandson of famous Kiowa ledger artist Silver Horn, who was known as Haungooah, a name which means “sunlight reflecting off a buffalo horn” in the Kiowa language. Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, the younger Haungooah became an innovative artist in his own right. In the late 1960s, Cody was among the first artists to use the sgraffito technique on pueblo pottery. He married a talented Santa Clara Pueblo potter, Martha Suazo, who encouraged him to decorate her pottery. Together they won numerous prizes during the 1970s. They signed their work Haungooah, after Art’s grandfather. When Martha passed away sometime after 1979, he continued creating and decorating his own pieces, until his untimely death only a few years later in 1985.

Sgraffito is the Italian word for “to scratch”. It has been used as an artistic technique since classical times in Europe and was especially popular during 15^th and 16^th centuries in Italy.  Art Cody was a skilled artist who mastered the sgraffito method and innovatively melded the powerfully detailed visuals of Kiowa ledger drawing with Pueblo motifs, resulting in miniature masterpieces.

This beautifully polished red seed pot features a grasshopper sitting on a branch. The grasshopper design is found fairly often in ancient Mimbres pottery. According to Fewkes, the Mimbres valued grasshoppers as a food source.  Each detail of the grasshopper has been intricately etched. It is signed Haungooah and dated 11/74, not on the bottom as is most common, but directly under the carved grasshopper.

This is one of four pieces made by the couple Martha Suazo and Art Cody (Haungooah) being offered, all of which were made in 1974. 

Condition: original condition

Recommended Reading: Pueblo Indian Pottery 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

Provenance: from a family from Santa Fe which is beginning to downsize its very large collection of pottery and paintings by New Mexico Native artists.