Black and Red Bowl
Nampeyo
Arts of the Americas
Using traditional methods of hand-coiled yellow ware and outdoor firing, Nampeyo invented her own abstract designs based on Hopi symbols. This bowl has a stylized eagle tail, abstract bird form, and meandering lines that indicate Hopi migration from the underworld to their homelands.
A potter from a young age, Nampeyo later worked with her daughters Annie, Nellie, and Fannie and sold directly through trading-post owner Thomas Keam. In 1905–6 she lived and worked at the Grand Canyon’s Hopi House demonstrating pottery making to tourists.
MEDIUM
Clay, slip
DATES
1901–1942
DIMENSIONS
3 3/8 x 10 1/16in. (8.5 x 25.5cm)
ACCESSION NUMBER
51.243.3
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mary E. Johnson
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Round, shallow black and red, deep bowl made from red earthenware which has been burnished smooth. It has a white slip painted design. On the underside are two paper labels: one is fragmentary with a red border, and the other has a black border and says, "MADE BY, NAMPEYO-HOPI."
Condition: good.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
