Hopi-Tewa Polacca Jar with Butterflies by Nampeyo, c.1890

Compare this early example of Nampeyo's Sikyatki Revival to a slightly earlier jar, P4631. On this jar, Nampeyo has refined her Polacca slip—which is becoming her later white slip—as well as her seed jar form, and the abstract butterfly motif. While both jars are clearly made by Nampeyo, we can see her trajectory as an artist, and how she makes her forms, slips, and designs more precise and aesthetically-pleasing as she becomes better at both painting and molding the pottery. This later version of the form and design she attempted only a few years earlier is larger, and showcases the excellent molding and painting of Nampeyo's mature work. The jar fired well, with the abstract butterfly design seeming to "pop" from the clean white background. Like the earlier jar, this jar has a red-slipped bottom and a red rim, indicating it was made in the same period of Nampeyo's pottery career, when she was still working in her Polacca slip and had not yet developed her later yellow, white, and red slips. The jar measures 6" height and 10" diameter, and is in excellent, original condition.

Compare to the earlier jar here: elmoreindianart.com/Detailed/4869.html