Seed Jar with Sikyátki Motifs

c. 1895–1910

Nampeyo (Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan, 1859–1942)
Hopi, First Mesa, Arizona

Since historical records have been kept, Pueblo potters have been almost exclusively women. There is every reason to expect that this has always been true. Nampeyo became the most famous potter who revived Hopi ceramic art around the turn of the 20th century. Drawing upon archaeological Sikyatki shapes, colors, and motifs, Nampeyo created her own inventive designs, continuing the Pueblo tradition of resynthesis and renewal. Today her descendants Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo and Fannie Nampeyo carry on the tradition, along with many other excellent potters throughout the Pueblo world.

Status: On View, Gallery 136
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Nampeyo
Cultures: Tewa , Hopi Tribe
Title: Seed Jar with Sikyátki Motifs, Seed Jar with Sikyatki Motifs
Place: Hopi Tribe of Arizona (Object made in)
Date: c. 1895-1910
Medium: Ceramic and pigment
Inscriptions: Inscribed bottom, top, in black marker: "171".
Dimensions: 19.3 × 41.2 × 41.3 cm (7 5/8 × 16 1/4 × 16 5/16 in.)
Credit Line: Laura T. Magnuson and Mary Louise Stevenson endowment funds
Reference Number: 2003.52
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/180751/manifest.json

Robert Ashton, “Nampeyo and Lesou,” American Indian Art Magazine 1, 3 (Summer 1976), 24-33 (ill.).
David L. Arnold, “Pueblo Pottery: 2,000 Years of Artistry,” National Geographic Magazine 162, 5 (Nov. 1982), fold-out page (ill.)
Richard Townsend, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2005), 203, plate 142 (ill.).
Richard Townsend with Elizabeth Pope, Indian Art of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2016), 72, cat. 42 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest, Apr. 22–Aug. 13, 2006, cat. 203.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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