Hooee, Daisy Nampeyo – Tall Jar with Bird Wing Designs (1970s)

6"w x 6.75"h

$ 1,250.00

Daisy Hooee Nampeyo is one of the extraordinary Hopi-Tewa women making pottery in the last century.  She was a daughter of Annie Nampeyo Healing and a granddaughter of Nampeyo of Hano.  Her daughter is Shirley Benn and her granddaughter is Cheryl Naha Nampeyo.  Daisy spent many of her formative years with her grandmother, Nampeyo, and learned how to make pottery at a very early age.  However, she began to lose her vision and had an operation to remove cataracts due to an infection.  She attended the L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris through her benefactor, Anita Baldwin. When she returned to Hopi, she married Ray Naha, then Leo Pablano (from Zuni), and finally Sidney Hooee from Zuni.  Her life story is as fascinating as her pottery. This is a classic Hopi jar with sloping sides. The entire piece is fully polished and painted with bee-weed (black) and highlighted with red clay slip. The design is repeated in four large sections on the jar.  It is a tightly painted pattern with triangular geometrics, bird wings, bird tails, and cloud designs.  The jar was traditionally fired to create the surface coloration.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  It is signed on the bottom side, “Daisy Nampeyo”.   Definitely a piece of history!