Hopi Black and White on Red Tail Feather Bowl by Nampeyo, c.1910

This classic example of Nampeyo's Sikyatki Revival dates to 1910, the mature period of her career. Nampeyo (1856-1942) created the Sikyatki Revival art movement in the 1880s when she began to take inspiration from pottery from the ancient Hopi village of Sikyatki. Her descendants and other traditional Hopi potters continue to work in the Sikyatki Revival style today. On this bowl, Nampeyo has extended the rim into the center of the bowl, which is decorated with abstract avian designs that fly around the rim and frame the design in the bowl's interior. The interior design has a classic sky or cloud band at the top, with a Sikyatki swirl representing the beak or talon of a bird dropping down. A floating diamond is at the center of the swirl, another classic element of Nampeyo's work. The bowl measures 2 1/4" height and 8 1/4" diameter, and is in excellent condition without repair. This is an excellent example of Nampeyo's red-slipped Sikyatki Revival pottery.