Tonita Nampeyo
Kiva Wing
Vase
13 1/2"
H x 12 1/2" D
This special piece was made
especially for a private collection when we were located in Keams
Canyon, Arizona - on the Hopi Indian Reservation. It is one of
the largest vessels (if not the absolute largest) Tonita has
ever created - and easily the largest we have ever offered.
In addition to its spectacular
size, it has an incredibly powerful yet elegantly balanced shape.
The key feature of the vase is the "kiva" or square-shaped
rim - inspired by a vessel created by her predacessor which Tonita
saw in the archives of the Heard Indian Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sweeping Thunderbird designs
descend down all four panels of this grand vase. Fineline details
can be found throughout - including the cross-hatching on alternating
Thunderbird panels.
There are no chips or cracks
- resulting from poor execution or careless mishandling. The
only characteristic which might be considered an "imperfection"
to some are a few areas in the black paint where the pigment
has lifted slightly and gone faint.
This is likely due to the
fact that firing a piece this size in a traditional, outdoor,
sheep-dung firing pit is a difficult task, making it hard if
not impossible to control the internal temperatures or raise
them to the point required to fully vitrify the paint to the
clay.
Nevertheless, this incredible
vase is in perfect structural condition and represents a special
opportunity to possess a piece of Nampeyo cultural heritage -
hand-made by a living legend, largely considered by many to be
a master and the living matriarch of the Nampeyo family.
Born in 1934, Tonita is the
granddaughter of the legendary Nampyo of Hano who has been credited
with the single-handed revitilization of Hopi Pottery. She is
the daughter of famed Fannie Nampeyo, and her siblings include
Leah and Elva Nampeyo, Thomas Polacca and Iris Youvella. She
has won awards for her pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market and
the Heard Market.
In the footsteps of her forebears,
Tonita stays true to her traditional roots, preferring to do
everything the "old way." Her clay is still dug from
deposits near her home. She still hand-coils and hand polishes
every piece she does. Tonita remains loyal to many of the original
Sikyatki ruins designs, as can be seen here in this beautiful
vase.
The rich orange and brown
colors are achieved through a traditional process of pigmentation
where natural vegetal and mineral dyes are used. Tonita has traditionally
fired this piece as well - as can be seen in the subtle shifts
in color around the base of the pot.
Tonita is world-renown and
appears in nearly every publication dealing with Hopi pottery.
Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the
globe, and she has shown and placed at nearly every major venue
throughout the Southwest.
Her work appears in Fourteen
Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham, The Art
of the Hopi by Jerry Jacka, and Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500
Artists Biographies by Gregory Schaff as well as others.
