Considered a matriarch of
the remaining Nampeyo family, Tonita is the eldest daughter of
Fannie Nampeyo, and grand-daughter to the legendary Nampeyo who
was credited as being instrumental in the revitalization of Hopi
polychrome pottery.
In the footsteps of her forebears,
Tonita stays true to her traditional roots, preferring to do
everything the "old way." Her clay is still dug from
deposits near her home. She still hand-coils and hand polishes
every piece she does. Tonita remains loyal to many of the original
Sikyatki ruins designs, as can be seen here in this beautiful
"thunderbird," or Sikyatki Bird vase.
This piece is strikingly unique,
as it is the first "vase" that Tonita has ever attempted.
It features a very classic design, reminiscent of her grandmother's
era. These bird figures are tied in to a center column through
their beaks.
The overall design scheme
represents a prayer for water. The arch above the design represents
the heavens, stylized with eagle tail plumes at both ends of
the arch. Beneath the arch is a symbol of the sun - also necessary
for a successful crop.
Additional stylized designs
flow down the center, terminating in a larger eagle tail motif
at the bottom. The two Sikyatki birds appear on either side of
the central column, and appear to be a variation of the thunderbird
design.
The designs appear on both
sides of the vase, and you can see from the photo following this
description, that the pottery is quite large. Tonita is holding
it gracefully here. The rich reds and browns are achieved through
a traditional process of pigmentation where natural vegetal and
mineral dyes are used.
Once the pottery has been
hand coiled, and the design has been applied, the pottery is
then fired in an outdoor sheep-dung firing pit. This process
increases the pottery's value since it is such a risk and barely
more than half of the fully formed potteries ever survive the
firing. This process however is what gives the piece its beautiful
orange blush. These are often called "fire clouds"
and are indicative of the adherance to traditional pottery making
practices.
Tonita is world-renown and
appears in nearly every publication dealing with Hopi pottery.
Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the
globe, and she has shown and placed at nearly every major venue
throughout the Southwest.
Her work appears in Fourteen
Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham, The Art
of the Hopi by Jerry Jacka, and Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500
Artists Biographies by Gregory Schaff as well as others.
