Daisy Hooee
Nampeyo
(c. 1905-1994)
Polacca Polychrome
3 1/4"
H x 3 1/2" D
Daisy Hooee Nampeyo, daughter
of Nampeyo’s eldest child Annie, suffered from an eye affliction
that prompted a wealthy visiting Californian, Anita Baldwin,
to take her to California for treatment while she was in her
teens.
Daisy lived with Mrs. Baldwin
for several years, and then her patroness afforded her the opportunity
to study art at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. Returning to
the Southwest in her early 20s, Daisy also returned to traditional
pottery arts, working with her female relatives, including her
mother Annie and sister Rachel.
As her grandmother had before
her, Daisy mined the rich sources of design inspiration from
excavated ancestral pottery, in this case the material unearthed
from the Peabody Museum at Harvard Univer-sity’s Awatovi
expedition of the mid-1930s. She lived at the Pueblo of Zuni
while married first to jewelry artist Leo Poblano and then to
Sidney Hooee.
Much of Daisy’s pottery
reflects the influence of the ancient Zuni pottery traditions,
such as the use of white clay and Rio Grande-style, high-shouldered
water jars.
