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A striking historic Hopi “Sikyatki-Revival” style polychrome pottery bowl with butterfly or moth pictorials probably by Nampeyo of Hano, c. 1915

This outstanding pottery vessel is one of the most interesting and visually distinctive pieces of historic Hopi pottery that we have ever had or seen and we have had and seen quite a few of them over the past 40-plus years.

This bowl is remarkable for any number of reasons beginning with its lovely and striking design motif originally adapted by Nampeyo and other Hopi potters from 14th-17th century Hopi “Sikyatki Polychrome” type (1375-1625 A.D.) pottery pieces. The “butterfly” or “moth” design was adapted directly from Hopi Sikyatki pottery designs made during this time period, as shown and detailed below. This early time period was the literal ‘’golden age” of prehistoric Hopi ceramics where beautifully made and elaborately decorated pottery jars, bowls, canteens and other vessels with wildly unique and complex depictions of animal, bird, insect and mythical creatures abounded.

"The Butterfly in Hopi Myth and Ritual"

“The butterfly, moth and dragonfly are among the most prominent insects figured on prehistoric Hopi pottery; they are frequently mentioned in the mythology of these people, and their symbols occur constantly on secular and ceremonial paraphernalia. There is

a prominent clan in one of the Hopi pueblos called The Butterfly Clan which preserves legends of its past history and migrations.”

-Jesse Walter Fewkes, American Anthropologist, Vol 12, No 4, Oct-Dec, 1910

“When I first began to paint, I used to go to the ancient village and pick up

pieces of pottery and copy the designs. That is how I learned to paint. But now,

I just close my eyes and see designs and I paint them.”

-Nampeyo

At center, a Sikyatki pottery design designated "Figure 83 -Moth” by 1895 Sikyatki Archeologist Jesse Walter Fewkes in "Prehistoric Hopi Pottery Designs", Dover Books, 1973, pp. 152. At left and right, details of Nampeyo's painted moth or butterfly designs.

At left, a Sikyatki polychrome jar with butterfly or moth pictorials referred to as "The Butterfly Vase" and illustrated in "Prehistoric Designs on Hopi Pottery" by Smithsonian archeologist, Jesse Walter Fewkes who excavated the ruins of Sikyatki Village in 1895. According to Fewkes, “A most striking figure of a butterfly is represented by six drawings on the so-called “butterfly vase”. These resemble birds, but they all have antennae, whcih identify them as insects."At center and right, two other Hopi polychrome pottery jars by Nampeyo c. 1910-15 with butterfly or moth pictorial designs.

-Fewkes quotation source and © "Prehistoric Designs on Hopi Pottery", Dover Books, 1973, pp.152. Right top and bottom photo source and © Cowan's Auctions

The overall presentation here is rich and complex and masterfully done, fully revealing the incredibly inspired mind and talented hands of this extraordinary artist. Let’s begin at the beginning. Nampeyo didn’t singlehandedly create the Sikyatki pottery Revival at Hopi, but she was a master at understanding and absorbing its nuances and demanding techniques and took it to even greater artistic and technical heights than even her ancient forbears did in some ways. The bowl is just perfectly and evenly formed; and finely thin-walled. The precise long-stroke stone polishing, a telltale Nampeyo characteristic, is beautifully accomplished here and the high-temperature coal-firing, another Nampeyo “signature” is also perfectly achieved yielding a sumptuous rich yellow-orange color with beautiful lighter yellow firing clouds or "blushes".

The bowl's painted design is so completely explosive and dynamic it is almost breathtaking; a double four-part horizontally-opposed arrangement centered about a central four-part "Morning Star" design, a classic Nampeyo layout and presentation, with four large pictorial butterflies or moths each positioned in its own separate elaborately-painted triangularly-shaped enclosure or “house” punctuated by a deep rich black painted four-part dividing geometric adjoining motif which both graphically and dramatically separates and also binds the insect designs together into a harmonious whole with a great sense of overall energy and motion. And every bit of it done according to age-old Hopi tradition straight out of the potter’s imagination, without the slightest assistance of

any preliminary sketches or studies. Its nothing short of sheer visual genius!!

“Butterfly is ‘povolhoya’. Moth is ‘hokona’. Both belong to badger/butterfly clan.”

-Hopi artist friends

Also remarkable is the artist’s exceptional use and manipulation of positive and negative spaces within the design. This is another major Nampeyo characteristic and she brings it to masterful expression in this design. A few words about the beautiful pictorial insect elements. According to our knowledgable Hopi artist sources, the Hopi make little or no distinction between butterflies and moths, they are considered very similar symbols and elements of fertility and growing things and they are both part of the important Hopi Badger/Butterfly Clan. The Hopi have a majestic annual Butterfly Dance which features a human manifestation of the beautiful Kachina spirit being known as the "Polikmana" or "Butterfly Girl" as shown below.

Also, the Moth or Butterfly became Chappella’s signature artistic motif during her pottery career which she used almost always in some way or another whereas Nampeyo only used it occasionally ,but most beautifully when she did as can be seen here and in the examples above. At the end of the day, it comes down to one’s educated opinion and we strongly favor Nampeyo as being the maker here for the various reasons stated, but Chappella remains a distant possibility. This ambiguity poses no particular difficulty in our view, it’s like owning a wonderful old Italian Renaissance painting which you know by its distinct quality, unique beauty, specific age and other artistic characteristics was created by none other than either Leonardo Da Vinci or his Mentor, Andrea del Verocchio.

A very nice problem to have, in other words.

In our knowledgable view, this unique and striking bowl is an artistic, technical and historic masterwork by the inspired mind and immensely skilled hand of a master Hopi pottery artist, whether Nampeyo or Grace Chappella.

Price $5,400

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The bowl measures a very nicely-sized 11” in diameter and it is 3” in height. It is in generally excellent original condition, and particularly so in light of its century-plus of age. A thorough examination under Ultraviolet light reveals no evidence at all of any restoration or overpainting. There is some degree of abrasion wear to the interior design and there are a few inconsequential nicks around the rim and a small ding and scratch here and there, but that’s all and for its century-plus of age that’s more than a little impressive. The exterior of the bowl is undecorated save for some beautiful light yellowish white firing blushes or fire clouds caused by the ultra-high temperature coal firing.

Another very small possibility which needs to be considered briefly here is the possibility that Hopi potter, Grace Chappella (pictured below) was possibly the maker of this vessel as this bowl has several distinct characteristics of the work of both Nampeyo and Chappella, although there are far more favoring Nampeyo in our view.

The elaborate double four-part design, the extraordinary and dynamic use of positive and negative space, the long stroke stone polishing are but a few of these. These two talented Hopi pottery artists, were contemporaries and neighbors, well acquainted with each other, who lived and worked in close proximity for many years, both of whom were strongly influenced by their exposure to and familiarity with the ancient Hopi Sikyatki pottery and whose work reflects this. Grace Chappella (1874-1980) was some 20 years younger than Nampeyo (1858-1942) and learned a great deal from watching her work.