It is not often we see a piece this size by Fannie Nampeyo. She was the youngest daughter of noted potter Nampeyo of Hano and also the mother of noted potters Iris Nampeyo, Leah Nampeyo, and Thomas Polacca.  She was certainly among the most skilled of her generation for painting designs pottery.  While her mother revived the “migration” or bird wing design, Fannie made is a signature design of her pottery and of the Nampeyo family.  This bowl is very wide and has a slightly turned out rim.  However, it is the migration pattern that dominates the surface of this piece.  The migration pattern, or bird wings, extend around the entire jar in nine sections above the shoulder and nine below for a total of eighteen.  The jar was traditionally fired so that it has some visually striking blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom, “Fannie Nampeyo”.  This jar is from the apex of her career and when she made some of her largest work.   It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  This jar is quite spectacular in size, painting and history.

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