Polacca, Thomas – Jar with Carved Eagle Dancer and Tewa Sun (1990s)

This is an intricately carved jar by Thomas Polacca.  Thomas was a son of noted potter Fannie Nampeyo and a grandson of Nampeyo of Hano.  He is considered among the first men to begin making pottery at Hopi in the 1970s.  Interestingly, the men initially did not use the traditional Sikyatki painted designs but followed other directions in their pottery.  This jar is deeply carved with an Eagle Dancer katsina on one side.  The wings stretch backward around the jar.  Below them is a very intricately carved Tewa Sun.  It is carved at multiple layers.  It is complex in design and subtle in coloration.  The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tom Polacca”.  It is from the mid-1990s.

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Polacca, Thomas (1935 - 2003)

Thomas Polacca was a son of noted potter Fannie Nampeyo and a grandson of Nampeyo of Hano. Along with Wallace Youvella (the husband of his sister Iris), Thomas was one of the first Hopi men to make and design pottery in the 1970s. Wallace and Thomas told the story that they first tried making pottery with "traditional" designs. Still, there was resistance from the women, so they began to create a new style of Hopi pottery with carved designs, much like Hopi Katsinas. Thomas received wide acclaim for his pottery over the years, and his work is in numerous museums, such as the Heard, the Denver Art Museum, and others.