Naha, Rainy – Jar with Butterfly Maiden & Grandmother Katsina

9.25"w x 5"h

$ 2,400.00

Stunning!  This large jar by Rainy Naha is intricately designed and painted.  On this jar, she has painted a Butterfly Maiden or Pahlik Mana on one side.  She has a large tablita headdress which is very intricately painted and designed.  Note the feathers on ends of the tablita, which are painted in her style of hallmark!  The opposite side has a Hahay-i wu-uti or “Grandmother Katsina” as the design.  It has been said of the Grandmother Katsina, which is one of the most recognizable of the katsinas:

For the Hopi, the Grandmother Katsina is among the most cherished, “The Mother of all Katsinam” (a title she shares with Crow Mother).  Grandmother Katsina could be thought of as the Mother Earth of the Hopi people. Her Hopi name is Hahay-i wu-uti.  This translates into “pour water woman.” In many paintings and carvings she is shown pouring water out of a gourd from one hand. This represents the pouring of life around the world. In her other hand, the Grandmother Katsina is often holding an ear of corn, a symbol of the nourishment she provides to all beings.”

Separating the two figures are bands of Hopi-Tewa designs.  Each of the squares has a different design from classic Hopi-Tewa pottery.  Note the very intricate checkerboard, and rain designs, along with all the various colors!  So why the Awatovi designs? Rainy’s mother, Helen “Feather Woman” Naha, lived on a ranch in the Jeddito Valley, below the Awatovi Ruins and Helen was the first revivalist of their black and white pottery.  Rainy has continued this revival with her innovative designs.  The jar is painted with various clay slips along with bee-weed, which is black.  It was traditionally fired and it is signed on the bottom with a feather and “Rainy”.  Rainy has won numerous awards for her pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Market and her work continues to be a creative inspiration in Hopi-Tewa pottery.