Quotskuyva, Dextra – Jar with Nampeyo Style Eagle Tail Design (1980’s)

7"w x 5.25"h

$ 6,500.00

This is a very traditionally inspired 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 piece is from the mid-1980’s.  It is inspired by the work of Nampeyo of Hano and the early style of painted red on the pottery.  In the early 1930’s Mary Colton at the Museum of Northern Arizona introduced a new clay slip to Hopi.  Previously the red had a more ‘painterly” appearance (see last photo of a jar by Nampeyo of Hano), which allowed the clay to show through. The new red is the one we see used today which more completely covers the painted area.  This jar looks back at the earlier style of Nampeyo and the red which has a more “painterly” appearance.  This jar is painted with red around the neck and the remainder has a classic eagle tail design.  However, note the very thin lines for the checkerboard pattern on the bird tail. The style of the painting is certainly Dextra’s but there is a wonderful homage to the work of her great-grandmother as well!   The bowl is traditionally fired so that there are blushes and color variations around 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 very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The piece comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife not noted Hopi jeweler Charles Loloma and it is a piece the acquired directly from Dextra.  Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.