Al Qoyawayma calls the shape of this jar his “Slipper” pots.  The jar is made from Hopi clay, coil-built and stone polished.  There are two impressed sections on the bowl.  One has a jaguar and the other a “Bird Man”.  Al says of this piece:

“There are a number of things about this bowl that make it very special.  First is the form which is a “Royal Aztec slipper bowl”.  It is a shape that, interestingly,  finds its way into Hopi culture because, to a significant degree, we Hopi have Aztec origins.  Our language is a Uto-Aztecan, a dialect of Aztec.  Many Hopi stories reflect our knowledge of the “South” such as the pyramids in “red”, only verified in the last century by archaeologists… Of course the “red” came from the pyramids being covered in red clay. We knew of “Cenotes” (wells water collection system) and “sacbes” road systems well known in the Yucatan and Maya.  At Old Oraibi (1000+ years old…. and where our family home and foundation base still exists) there is a water collection “cenote” nearby the three-story structures and ruins that exist today…. where my grandmother’s house was and where my aunt Polingaysi was hidden from Federal troops looking for children to send to “Indian Schools”, to educate them as “white men”.  Of course, the Hopi knew of our origins with events, that are even happening in this era, with the Aztec people as we know them today, but unknown to today’s world.

Then, of course, there was the earlier civilization before the Aztecs at the major city and pyramid complex at Teotihuacan.  The imprinted (pressed) figures on the slipper recognize our earlier origins using real Teotihuacan “0” (zero) B.C. clay stamps.  The animal representation may be a jaguar or perhaps another smaller animal.  The other 3 figure relief characters I might guess as “bird men”.  I give these stamps and figures respect because of their antiquity.  Teotihuacan was a very cosmopolitan city and pyramid complex and is said to have many cultural enclaves, some possibly with ancestors to the Hopi. 

Slipper bowls exist from the tip of South America to Hopi in Arizona.  Culturally and prehistorically that is very important, and even suggests some worldwide linkage.  Finally using my Hopi clay this is a somewhat challenging shape requiring some skills in construction, just like the original Aztec potter which made the original “Royal Slipper bowl”.

The slipper pot has additional clay highlights around the two impressed designs.  It is signed, “Al Qoyawayma”.