This is a very detailed jar by Les Namingha.  It is stylized with black and white checkerboard pattern inside bird designs around the top of the jar.  Around the shoulder are Hopi-Tewa birds with intricately painted Hopi designs inside them. The bottom has geometric shapes painted in various colors.  While the jar is part of his “Urban Polychrome” series, I included a final photo in the series of the jar next to a piece by Nampeyo of Hano (his ancestor).  Check out the use of her geometric shapes, checkerboards, and lines.  It is easy to that Les’s modernist pottery has deep roots in Hopi-Tewa pottery!  The jar is signed on the bottom.

“The concept of layering is inherent in our mortal journey. As time moves forward, our memories become layered. Some memories remain vibrant, others faint or hazy. Yet others, obscure or even hidden. Likewise, our experiences, words, works, emotions, prayers and songs build up in layers creating our existence. In turn, our societal interactions become exercises in layering. We see this in evidence with street art or graffiti writing where layers of thought and a desire to express a “proof of existence” create tapestries of color and marks. Blending, covering, harmonizing, dissonance, disappearing. This concept of layering is the idea behind Urban Polychrome and other works in the Urban Series.”  Les Namingha