Hopi Pueblo Pottery

Traditional Hopi pottery of the modern era is polychrome, with black and red geometric and stylized bird (parrot) designs on a yellow-gold background. A Hopi-Tewa woman named Nampeyo, from the pueblo of Hano on First Mesa, popularized this style in the late 19th century when she revived a prehistoric Hopi pottery type being excavated at the archaeological site of Sikyatki.Thus, Hopi Polychrome may variously be called "Sikyatki Revival" or "Hano Polychrome," or "Nampeyo Polychrome." Above are two beautiful pots made by Nampeyo. The one on the right was collected by Jesse Peter in the 1930s, at the same time that he collected the large jar by Paqua Naha and the piki dough bowl by Myrtle Luke, both of which appear on the right. The bowl below is by Fannie Nampeyo, one of Nampeyo's daughters. It exhibits the Nampeyo family's famous bird wing pattern.

Today traditional golden Hopi pottery continues, but other styles have also been developed. Garnet Pavatea was known for her redware pieces decorated with small punctated triangles as you see below on the left. The miniature polychrome bowl in the middle is by Dextra Nampeyo, and the miniature redware jar on the far right is by Thomas Polacca.