Adobe Gallery Blog

Pauline Setalla married into the Frog Woman/Feather Woman family clan. It was reported by her son several years ago that she was in ill health and retired from making pottery. We have not had an update on her health since that time. She had 10 children, some of whom are potters carrying on her legacy. She was raised on the Second Mesa village of Mishongnovi on the Hopi Reservation. She learned pottery production techniques from her mother-in-law, Agnes Navasie, and her sister-in-law, Eunice Navasie.

All of Setalla's pottery was formed in the traditional coil technique from native clay and slipped with vegetal paints and painted in the traditional manner. Firing was with sheep dung, a popular way at Hopi. This pair of Hopi cylinders was made in that manner.

We are presenting this pair of cylinders together; however, they may be purchased separately. Both feature the face of a Long Hair Katsina in opposing panels of decoration and one of the cylinders features a bowl of corn and a turtle image and the other cylinder features a large frog image on opposing panels. They make a wonderful pair should someone want both. They are the same size and style and are complimentary to each other.  

Condition: structurally in original condition with some minor over-paint on brown color.
Provenance: from the collection of Katherine H. Rust whose collection was mostly amassed in the 1960s and 1970s so it is assumed that is the approximate period that these were made.
Recommended Reading: Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artist Biographies by Gregory and Angie Schaaf

Subject: Pair of Hopi Polychrome Cylindrical Jars
Artist / Potter: Pauline Setalla (1930-?)
Category: Contemporary
Origin: Hopi Pueblo
Medium: clay, pigment
Size: 11-3/4" tall x 7-1/4" diameter
Item # C3309H-J