WOW!  This is a spectacular polychrome bowl by Nathan Begaye.  He was a unique innovator among Pueblo and Navajo potters.  His ancestral connection to Hopi and Navajo let his clay art flow between the two distinctive styles and yet find its own unique space.  His work used traditional designs, forms, and techniques yet somehow appeared very modern.  This bowl has a wide shape and is made from Hopi red clay. The top of the shoulder is fully painted with bee-weed (black) and various clay slips.  There are at least EIGHT different clay colors used on this bowl.   Take a closer look, the tiny triangles and squares are each individually slipped, then stone polished one at a time!  I remember going to Nathan’s apartment when he lived in Phoenix and watching him work on painting his pottery.  He would talk about each of the colors, and some were more difficult to source than others. The purple and blues, I remember, were the most difficult for him to find.  This amazing piece has all his complex colors, including purple!  The design on this piece is a connection of his Hopi and Navajo ancestry. There is a Yei figure one side.  As the bowl is turned, there are two Hopi birds.  The complexity and creativity of this piece for the size is simply exceptional! The bowl was traditionally fired to create slight blush on the surface.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom, “Nathan Begaye”.  It is from 1988.  The last photo is a picture I took of Nathan when he was living in Phoenix.  He moved there for several years and I would go to his apartment and see what he was working on and hear the stories about his pottery, the clays, and his firings.