Tahbo, Mark – 12″ Plate with Sikyatki Butterfly (1993)
$ 1,200.00
Mark Tahbo learned to make pottery from his great-grandmother, Grace Chapella. This is one of his few plates and it is from 1993. The plate is fully polished on the front and back. The front has a Sikyatki stylized butterfly. It is painted with two different colors of red clay and bee-weed (black). The back of the plate is polished red. The plate was traditionally fired to create the blushes on the surface. It is signed on the back, “Mark Tahbo. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.
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Mark Tahbo learned to make pottery from his great-grandmother, Grace Chapella. This small plate is from 2003. It is fully polished on the front and back. On the front there are ten rows of “dots” in various clay colors including white, mauve, red, burgundy, and black. It is an interesting piece, as it has a very modernist appearance. I remember two things about pieces like this from Mark. First is that he would often make small “sampler” pieces to test out various clays and see what color they were. This is how he would do it. The second is that in his kitchen, he had a large plate that hung on the wall and was very similar to this piece in style. It was a plate that had broken in the firing but, again, it was a way for him to test out various clays and see what color they would fire. The piece was traditionally fired so there are blushes on the surface. It is signed on the back, “Mark Tahbo. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.
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Tahbo, Mark (1958-2017)
Mark Tahbo
Mark Tahbo was a Hopi-Tewa member of the Tobacco Clan. He had been an active potter since 1978. He learned to make pottery from his great-grandmother, Grace Chapella. His sisters Diana and Pam were also potters. Mark was influential in the early 1990s in recognizing Hopi pottery's traditional firing and keeping it as a practice among Hopi-Tewa.
Mark had won numerous awards for his pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Indian Market, and Gallup Ceremonials. In 1991, he won the Overall Prize at Santa Fe Indian Market. In 1992 he was awarded Best of Division at the Heard Museum Indian Fair. Awards continued to be presented to him in 1993 and 1994. His pottery is featured in books such as "Talking with the Clay" and "Collecting Authentic Indian Art." He is remembered as one of the exceptional traditional innovators of Hopi pottery. His pieces reflect the remarkable symmetry and thin walls of an excellent potter. The designs are painted using native clay slips and beeweed plants for the black.
Sadly, Mark passed away in December 2017. We were lucky to work with him at King Galleries for over 20 years. His creativity and artistic genius will be missed.