This is a classic open bowl 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 piece is from about 1985 and it is featured in the book, “Painted Perfection” on p. 25.  The design is classic Nampeyo pattern of the Blackbird Migration.  The design is very intricately painted and swirls around the inside of the bowl. The bowl itself has a carved rim, which is almost mesa-like in shape.  From certain angles, it is as if the one is looking over the edge of the mesa and seeing the birds flying in the sky!  The bowl was traditionally fired to create the various fire clouds on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom with bee-weed, “Dextra” with an ear of corn representing the Corn Clan.   The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  The bowl comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of noted Hopi silversmith Charles Loloma.  It’s great to have a piece with such exceptional provenance!  Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.