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

6"w x 6.5"h

$ 1,200.00

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 water jar shape with a round shoulder and a slightly turned-out rim. The jar is slipped with white clay and painted with bee-weed and red clay slip.  The rim is painted black.  The design on the shoulder is tightly painted with triangular geometrics, bird wings, bird tails, and cloud designs.  The design is repeated four times. 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, “Daisy Nampeyo”.   Definitely a piece of history!