Nampeyo, Elva Tewaguna – Bowl with 30 Bird Wing Migration Pattern (1970’s)

7"w x 4"h

$ 675.00

Elva Tewaguna Namepyo was a daughter of Fannie Nampeyo, a granddaughter of the Nampeyo of Hano, and a sister of Iris and Tonita Nampeyo and Thomas Polacca.  Her pottery was coil-built, stone polished, and painted with bee-weed and natural clay slips. This bowl is one of her more complex variations of the classic migration pattern.  There are15 bird wings above the shoulder and 15 below, for a total of 30!  Each wing connects to the next with thin lines.  The bowl was traditionally fired to create the blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom, “Elva Nampeyo”.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Her daughter Adelle Nampeyo continues in the same family tradition.

Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo said of  the migration pattern:

“This is the one design that was really stressed for us to use, the migration pattern. Nothing but lines, representing the migration of all the people to all the places, including down below and up above. It has seven points at the top and bottom. All the x’s represent life from the bottom and top, telling you the universe is one. The thin lines, I just wanted to paint them real fast and real close to try and include everyone.”  Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo, Spoken Through Clay