Darlene Nampeyo, Jar
Written by USU Student Josh Neilson
June 30, 2017
This hopi Jar was created by Darlene Givil Nampeyo in 1986. The smooth earthenware jar highlights the simple beauty that is characteristic of traditional Hopi pottery. It measures about seven inches tall and six inches wide, and bears a slightly square shape. The surface is painted with geometric designs using black and red paints, made from Rocky Mountain bee plant and other local plants and materials. [1] The same design is repeated on each of the four sides of the jar. The design features a diamond-shaped motif enclosed in a black stepped-fret design. This stepped border is reminiscent of cloud symbols found on other Hopi works. The diamond-shaped motif in the center is derived from a larger eagle motif found on early Hopi pots, some dating back to about 1650 CE or earlier. [2] The jar was traditionally fired with a dung kilb, as evidenced by the mild blushing on the pot’s surface. [3]Darlene was born in 1956, and comes from a family of renowned Hopi Potters. [4] Her great-great-grandmother, Nampeyo (1856 – 1942), was responsible for reviving Sikyatki polychrome pottery. This distinctive, refined pottery style had died out with the Sikyatki people nearly two hundred years before. [5] Nampeyo taught the art of polychrome pottery to her daughter Annie, who passed it to her daughter Rachel, who taught it to her daughters Dextra and Priscilla. Dextra and Priscilla, Darlene’s aunts, taught Darlene the fine art of Hopi pottery as a girl. Darlene’s work is now seen in many galleries and collections across the country. Many of the motifs and designs used in Darlene’s work are directly inspired by the work of her great-great-grandmother Nampeyo.[6] Darlene said of her work, “Each pot that I create gives me a special feeling, because I know it is one of a kind and can never be duplicated.”[7]
Sources:
1. “Making Pueblo Pottery.” King Galleries. Accessed March 29, 2016. https://kinggalleries.com/making-pueblo-potery-2/
2. “Nampeyo: hopi Master Potter.” Manataka American Indian Council. Accessed March
28, 2016. https://www.manataka.org/page2702.html
3. “Making Pueblo Pottery.” King Galleries. Accessed March 29, 2016. https://kinggalleries.com/making-pueblo-potery-2/
4. Rick Dillingham. Fourteen Families in Pueblo Potter. (UNM Press, 1994), 14-15
5. “Nampeyo: hopi Master Potter.” Manataka American Indian Council. Accessed March
28, 2016. https://www.manataka.org/page2702.html
6. Rick Dillingham. Fourteen Families in Pueblo Potter. (UNM Press, 1994), 14-15
7. Ibid., 55
This month's From the Vault is part of an object-based research assignment from Professor
Sandra Charlson's course ARTH 3340 Native North American Art.
Darlene Nampeyo, b. 1956
Native American (Hopi)
Jar, 1986
Earthenware
7 x 6.375 inches
Gift of Nora Eccles Harrison