This is a classic water jar 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 on pottery.  While her mother revived the “migration” or bird wing design, Fannie made it a signature design of her pottery and of the Nampeyo family.  This jar has a round shoulder and a short neck.  It is the classic migration pattern that dominates the surface of this piece.  The migration pattern, or bird wings, extends around the entire jar in 10 sections on top and 10 on the bottom for a total of 20!  The jar was traditionally fired so that it has some visually striking blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom, “Fannie Nampeyo”  with a corn plant for the Corn Clan.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

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. 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