Quotskuyva, Dextra – “Cardinals” Wide Shoulder Bowl (1990s)
$ 4,400.00
This is a classic bowl by Dextra Quostkuyva Nampeyo. She is known for her creative designs and forms that have dramatically influenced the world of Hopi-Tewa pottery. The shape has a wide shoulder and sloping side. The inside of the rim is polished red. The top of the bowl is painted with four cardinals, two male and two female. The bodies are painted with bee-weed (a plant) and the have polished red sections. There is a lot of detail, including small checkerboard sections, that make up the body of each bird. The bowl was traditionally fired to create the blushes on the surface. It is from the 1990s. It is signed, “Dextra” on the bottom with a corn plant for Corn Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.
Dextra said of her early pottery:
“I was watching my mom (Rachel Nampeyo) all the time, and I was picking up everything she was doing. I found my own polishing stones. I would collect clays. My mother didn’t like it when I did different types of designs. She was different in her ideas. My mother, she went so far as to say that whatever our great-grandmother had reproduced from old designs—those were important designs. We’re supposed to have the basics, she’d say. The big six. Don’t part from that. The six traditional designs. One of them is the migration design, the eagle feather design, the hummingbird design, the horned lizard, the moth design, and parrots. Those are the ones that started with Lesso and Nampeyo. The designs are mainly from Sikyatki people—it was their pottery that was dug out when they were excavating. They were beautiful designs they had used quite a bit.” Dextra Quotskuyva, Spoken Through Clay
Out of stock
This is a classic bowl by Dextra Quostkuyva Nampeyo. She is known for her creative designs and forms that have dramatically influenced the world of Hopi-Tewa pottery. The shape has a wide shoulder and sloping side. The inside of the rim is polished red. The top of the bowl is painted with four cardinals, two male and two female. The bodies are painted with bee-weed (a plant) and the have polished red sections. There is a lot of detail, including small checkerboard sections, that make up the body of each bird. The bowl was traditionally fired to create the blushes on the surface. It is from the 1990s. It is signed, “Dextra” on the bottom with a corn plant for Corn Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.
Dextra said of her early pottery:
“I was watching my mom (Rachel Nampeyo) all the time, and I was picking up everything she was doing. I found my own polishing stones. I would collect clays. My mother didn’t like it when I did different types of designs. She was different in her ideas. My mother, she went so far as to say that whatever our great-grandmother had reproduced from old designs—those were important designs. We’re supposed to have the basics, she’d say. The big six. Don’t part from that. The six traditional designs. One of them is the migration design, the eagle feather design, the hummingbird design, the horned lizard, the moth design, and parrots. Those are the ones that started with Lesso and Nampeyo. The designs are mainly from Sikyatki people—it was their pottery that was dug out when they were excavating. They were beautiful designs they had used quite a bit.” Dextra Quotskuyva, Spoken Through Clay
Brand
Quotskuyva, Dextra Nampeyo (1928-2019)
