Hopi Low and Wide Polychrome Jar [SOLD]

Dolly Joe Navasie is best known by her name White Swann. She is a daughter of Eunice Navasie (Fawn) and granddaughter of Poli-Ini who were her mentors. She learned to work with clay from age six and learned to paint pottery by age seventeen. She uses traditional coil method and all natural pigments, polishes her pottery with river stones and fires outdoors using sheep dung for fuel.

This seed jar is beautifully proportioned and symmetrical.  The design, repeated four times around the jar, is a sweeping and graceful stylized bird of Sikyatki origin.  Most of the design was executed in dark brown pigment and then accented with a deep red element that arches above the bird.  Execution of the painted design was exceptional.  The brown painted areas are consistent in texture and the red painted areas are beautifully dark and rich in color.  Stippling areas of the design were placed perfectly.  Not only is White Swann an excellent potter, she is an excellent painter as well.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from a gentleman in Washington, D.C.

Recommended Reading: Contemporary Hopi Pottery by Laura Graves Allen