Dextra Quostkuyva Nampeyo is certainly one of the most influential Hopi-Tewa potters of the last 50 years. Not only has she taught numerous potters (Steve Lucas, Yvonne Lucas, Les Namingha, Loren Ami, Hisi Nampeyo, to name just a few), but her creative designs and forms changed have dramatically influenced the pottery itself.  This is a striking piece of her traditional fine-line pottery.  It was the delicate lines on the migration pattern that first created notoriety for her pottery in the early 1970s in Arizona Highways.  This bowl has a wide shoulder and is fully painted with bee-weed (black) and polished red areas. The piece is painted with the classic migration pattern.  Dextra said of this design:

“This is the one design that was really stressed for us to use, the migration pattern. Nothing but lines, representing the migration of all the people to all the places, including down below and up above. It has eight points at the top and bottom. All the x’s represent life from the bottom and top, telling you the universe is one. The thin lines, I just wanted to paint them real fast and real close to try and include everyone.”  Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo, Spoken Through Clay

The bowl is exceptional in how she painted the thin lines.  There are eight bird wings above the shoulder and eight below making a total of sixteen.  The bowl was traditionally fired creating blushes on the surface.  This bowl is signed on the bottom, “Dextra Quotskuyva” and a corn plant for Corn Clan.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair and was originally purchased directly from Dextra in 1980.  Definitely a classic of her pottery!