Tahbo, Mark – Water Jar with Tumbling Hummingbirds (1998)
$ 1,800.00
This is a creative water jar by Mark Tahbo. He was known not just for his painted pottery, but especially for the blushes on his pottery from the firing. This jar is from 1998. It is coil-built and painted with bee-weed and both red and mauve clay slips. The rainbow design is slipped with his mauve clay. Around the shoulder are four tumbling hummingbirds. Note the delicate hatchure lines and the deep red area on their backs. The jar was then traditionally fired outdoors to create the blushes on the surface. Mark was masterful with his firings, hoping to achieve colorations from deep orange to red to white on each piece. This jar has a dramatic coloration from the firing. It is signed, “Mark Tahbo” with a pipe for Tobacco Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. A beautiful balance of form and design!
For traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery, there are no shortcuts. I feel that the younger people aren’t as fortunate as I was. I was born at a time when I was with the elder women who revived Hopi-Tewa pottery and brought it to this level. I learned the old style. From how to get the clay, and how to process it, from start to finish. They were simple, maybe even crude ways, but they worked. Today, it seems like the storytelling is almost gone. I always tell younger potters that it’s one of the most important foundations we can have as Hopi-Tewa potters. A story. Something to lean back on. If you don’t have that root or that foundation, you have nothing. You are just floating on your own. Soak it all in and listen to all the old stories that you can. There are just no shortcuts. You have to learn the hard way and have patience.” Mark Tahbo, Spoken Through Clay
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This is a creative water jar by Mark Tahbo. He was known not just for his painted pottery, but especially for the blushes on his pottery from the firing. This jar is from 1998. It is coil-built and painted with bee-weed and both red and mauve clay slips. The rainbow design is slipped with his mauve clay. Around the shoulder are four tumbling hummingbirds. Note the delicate hatchure lines and the deep red area on their backs. The jar was then traditionally fired outdoors to create the blushes on the surface. Mark was masterful with his firings, hoping to achieve colorations from deep orange to red to white on each piece. This jar has a dramatic coloration from the firing. It is signed, “Mark Tahbo” with a pipe for Tobacco Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. A beautiful balance of form and design!
For traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery, there are no shortcuts. I feel that the younger people aren’t as fortunate as I was. I was born at a time when I was with the elder women who revived Hopi-Tewa pottery and brought it to this level. I learned the old style. From how to get the clay, and how to process it, from start to finish. They were simple, maybe even crude ways, but they worked. Today, it seems like the storytelling is almost gone. I always tell younger potters that it’s one of the most important foundations we can have as Hopi-Tewa potters. A story. Something to lean back on. If you don’t have that root or that foundation, you have nothing. You are just floating on your own. Soak it all in and listen to all the old stories that you can. There are just no shortcuts. You have to learn the hard way and have patience.” Mark Tahbo, Spoken Through Clay
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Tahbo, Mark (1958-2017)
Mark Tahbo
Mark Tahbo was a Hopi-Tewa member of the Tobacco Clan. He had been an active potter since 1978. He learned to make pottery from his great-grandmother, Grace Chapella. His sisters Diana and Pam were also potters. Mark was influential in the early 1990s in recognizing Hopi pottery's traditional firing and keeping it as a practice among Hopi-Tewa.
Mark had won numerous awards for his pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Indian Market, and Gallup Ceremonials. In 1991, he won the Overall Prize at Santa Fe Indian Market. In 1992 he was awarded Best of Division at the Heard Museum Indian Fair. Awards continued to be presented to him in 1993 and 1994. His pottery is featured in books such as "Talking with the Clay" and "Collecting Authentic Indian Art." He is remembered as one of the exceptional traditional innovators of Hopi pottery. His pieces reflect the remarkable symmetry and thin walls of an excellent potter. The designs are painted using native clay slips and beeweed plants for the black.
Sadly, Mark passed away in December 2017. We were lucky to work with him at King Galleries for over 20 years. His creativity and artistic genius will be missed.