This is a large jar by Dextra Quotskuyva.  She is certainly one of the great innovators among Hopi-Tewa potters.  Her work began with more classic imagery and then has evolved over the years to more unique and stylized designs. This jar is coil-built and painted with bee-weed and polished red areas.  It is from 1982.  The jar is called, “Nampeyo Birds” and it isn’t just the design that Dextra used as inspiration. The shape of the jar is classic for Nampeyo.  When you feel the inside of the rim, there is a tiny inner coil, much like we would expect on Nampeyo’s work and which you can barely feel!  Then, of course, there is the design, which is iconic for Nampeyo with the deconstructed birds.  The jar has a design that was originated by Nampeyo of Hano and one that Dextra used throughout her career.  There are a series of four birds that encircle the shoulder of the jar.  Their tails are fully polished red.  The beaks extend up to the rim.  It is the detail in the heads and bodies of each of the birds that are so exceptional.  Her early pieces are a marvel of thin lines and precision painting.  The jar itself has been traditionally fired with blushes on the surface of the clay.  The size, precision of the painting, and the red polished surfaces all make this a distinctive piece by Dextra.  They create strong visual cues that this is her work even before it is turned over to see her signature! The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dextra” and an ear of corn, as she is Corn Clan.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Wheelwright called, “Painted Perfection“.