Naha, Rainy – Jar with Multi-Colored Feathers
$ 1,100.00
This is a classic jar by Rainy Naha. It has a sloping side and short neck. The sides are painted with bee-weed and clay slips. The jar has four series of colorful feathers. The feathers are highlighted with various colors of clay. They are separated by both clouds and mountain designs. It is a very delicate and colorful design. It was traditionally fired and it is signed on the bottom with a feather and “Rainy”.
Out of stock
This large jar by Rainy Naha is intricately designed and painted. This jar has a wide shoulder and a sloping side. It is painted with a male Salako Katsina on one side, and a female Salako on the other.
“The Hopi Salako Taka towers seven or eight feet tall. It is a shoulderless figure that bows and dips as he moves in a most graceful manner. He is always accompanied by his sister, the Salako Mana, as well as Hahai-i Wuhti and the Tukwinong Kachinas. The two Salakos are distinguishable only by a few details. The male has a pink face, earrings that are pendant eagle plumes, and the turquoise-colored moccasins of the men. The Hopi Salako Mana represents the Corn Maiden and is believed to direct the clouds to the Hopi mesas. She has terraced bodies representing rain clouds on her head. The Hopi Shalako Mana always appears with her brother, Shalako Taka (Sa’lakwtaqa).
The two Salako figures are tightly painted and note how the feathers on each tablita is a version of her own feather signature! Separating the two figures is a panel Rainy described as “the Dance Shawl”. 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, including 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. The last photo is one that Rainy send me of the jar in process (before it was fired, while it was being painted).
Brand
Naha, Rainy (b. 1949)
Rainy Naha
Rainy Naha learned to make pottery from her mother, Helen "Featherwoman" Naha, and Rainy is the granddaughter of Hopi-Tewa pottery matriarch Paqua Naha, the first "Frogwoman." The traditional designs of her pottery go back to the early works made by Paqua. Her sister Sylvia and brother Burel Naha are also well-known potters, and they use much the same styles and colors as Rainy. Each piece of Rainy's work is made in the traditional hand-coiled method, then shaped, sanded, and polished before painting with bee-weed (black) and native clay slips and native fired. Rainy continues to innovate and also creates her voice among Hopi-Tewa potters. She has won numerous awards, including "Best of Pottery" at Santa Fe Indian Market in 2007. She signs her pottery with the traditional feather hallmark used by her mom and then adds her first name. We are pleased to carry Rainy in our Gallery both in Scottsdale and Santa Fe.