Adobe Gallery Blog

Nampeyo was handpicked by Hopi trader Thomas Keam to make pottery in the style of the prehistoric Sikyatki potters.  He chose her because she was, to him, the best potter at Hopi.  She never disappointed him by producing anything less than wonderful.  She did not copy Sikyatki potter's work but used it as inspiration for her own designs.

This small polychrome seed jar is so typical of Nampeyo's fine craftsmanship.  It replicates the Sikyatki vessel shape with a wide midsection and a graceful slope upward to the rim.  An unusual departure from what one normally sees on jars of this style is her use of only three red triangles rather than four.  It is Nampeyo exercising her creativity.

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