Annie or Fannie....you can't go wrong with either name on old Hopi pottery....
We are thrilled to add this beautiful bowl to our collection!
Wow! I am impressed! My sister and I had not gotten together to exchange Christmas gifts until yesterday afternoon....she had been sick over the holidays, and then Wes came down with the "dreaded gaumboo" as well...so yesterday was the first chance we had to get together and exchange presents! A second Christmas...and very fitting for January 6th..."Three King's Day"! My sister was very generous (as she always is) with her gifts! Wes and I were gifted with a large old Hopi pottery bowl that my sister had found in a second hand shop, she knew that it was a real "find"...and it most definitely was! This old "Sikyatki" design bowl has the faint signature of either Annie or Fannie Nampeyo! We will be researching it, and try to figure out which of these two famous daughters of the legendary potter "Nampeyo" it was actually made by. The design is a "Sun" symbol with geometric rain and water patterns. It is a large piece measuring 10 1/2" across by almost 3" deep. That is good sized, as nowadays most of the pottery coming out of the Hopi villages is much smaller. We met Fannie at Santa Fe Indian Market in the 1970's, but Annie had passed away in 1968, a few years before we started attending "Market". Nampeyo was born sometime around 1860 at First Mesa, Arizona. She learned pottery at a very young age and was an excellent potter when she married her husband "Lesou" who was a member of an archaeological crew. They were excavating old ruins on the mesas, and Nampeyo began taking designs off the pottery shards found at the old "Sikyatki" site and revived these ancient designs through her wares. In the early 1900's the Fred Harvey Company at the Grand Canyon began promoting Nampeyo's work, and she beacame the most well known and sought after potter from the Hopi villages. Fannie and Annie, along with their sister Nellie and brother Wesley all learned their mother's skills and techniques, and became well known for their wares as well. Fannie and Annie helped Nampeyo with the painting on her wares when her vision began to fail. Nampeyo passed away in 1942....leaving behind a great legacy, and a number of descendants who have kept Nampeyo's designs and techniques alive and thriving! Wes and I are thrilled to add this beautiful piece of pottery to our collection.....pottery is truly our "first love". It will always hold a place of honor in our home and be well cared for.... I am sure there is quite a tale and a lot of history with this wonderful old bowl...if only it could talk! Thank you Julie, for this very special gift!
