Hopi Polychrome Jar with Sherd Design by Vernida Polacca Nampeyo

Hopi-Tewa master potter Vernida Polacca Nampeyo (1955- ) made this white-slipped polychrome jar in November 2022. Vernida is the great-granddaughter of Nampeyo and the granddaughter of Fannie, Nampeyo's most prolific and skilled potting daughter. Fannie taught Vernida pottery-making. For decades, Vernida made traditional Hopi pottery the way Fannie taught her, and she is well-known for precisely executing family designs.

This piece represents a rare departure for Vernida, away from the Nampeyo family design canon and into a more experimental and innovative collage-like design inspired by potsherds. Vernida's attempt at the sherd design was successful, as she combined many design elements in the pattern of "sherds" arranged in puzzle-like fashion. The jar possesses all the characteristics of one of Vernida's masterpieces—symmetrical molding using the hand coil method, traditional outdoor pit-firing, and painting with a strip of yucca and natural pigments. The jar measures 8 1/2" height and 7" diameter, and is signed "Vernida Polacca Nampeyo" in guaco on the bottom.