Begaye, Nathan – Polychrome White Bowl with Corn Designs (1999)

This is a striking polychrome jar by Nathan Begaye.  He was a unique innovator among Pueblo and Navajo potters.  His ethnic connection to both 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 is a classic Hopi-Tewa wide shoulder shape.  It is polished white and then painted on the top. The central area has flowing bird wings and clouds.  They are surrounded by geometric shape.  Each shape has various colors of clay used to accentuate the designs.  Each area of color was stone polished before the piece was fired.  There is green, blue, purple, orange, teal, lavender, and red.  The black is bee-weed (a plant).  It is an extraordinary number of colors on this piece and the result is quite spectacular. I remember going to Nathan’s apartment when he lived in Phoenix. I would watch 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 to find.  This amazing piece has all his complex colors, including two variations of purple and blue!  The bowl was traditionally fired to create the blushes on the surface and the white has a very pearlescent appearance.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom, “Nathan Begaye”.  It is from 1999.   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.

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Begaye, Nathan (1958-2010)

Nathan Begaye was a unique innovator among Pueblo and Navajo potters. His ethnic connection to both Hopi and Navajo let his work flow between the two distinctive styles and yet find their own unique space. His work used traditional designs, forms, and techniques, yet somehow appeared very modern. Nathan was one of the innovators of Native pottery and was featured in numerous books, including "Free Spirit: The New Native American Indian Potter", "Beyond Traditions" and others. His pottery can also be found in the permanent collection of the Heard and other museums.