Ida Sahmie
Yei Dancers
3 1/2"
H x 3 1/2" D
Ida Sahmie (Navajo) the wife
of Andrew Sahmie (Hopi), and the daugther-in-law of Priscilla
Namingha Nampeyo. She was born in 1960 and has been an active
potter since 1990.
Her favorite designs are Yei-like
figures. She has been described in Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500
Artists Biographies by Gregory Schaff:
"Ida Sahmie is a Navajo
woman who is married into a Tewa family. She has learned how
to make pots in the technique and style of Hopi-Tewa potters.
However, she prefers to use Navajo designs, especially Navajo
Yeis, spiritual 'Holy People.'"
Along with her appearance
in Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artists Biographies by Gregory
Schaff (p. 143), Ida is also featured in Fourteen Families
in Pueblo Pottery (p. 48), and in The Legacy of a Master
Potter: Nampeyo and Her Descendants by Mary Ellen and Laurence
Blair (p. 188).
Although her work has drawn
criticism from both the Hopi-Tewa and Navajo communities, Ida
maintains her comittment to her artwork and continues to push
forward with clean and consistent pieces.
Ida is quoted in Fourteen
Families: " Personally, I feel I have a unique talent
with pottery. It's a combination of both Hopi and Navajo, though
I feel it should be more Navajo because I am a Navajo. I want
to stick with more Navajo designs. The Yei figures are the most
popular for me, secondly would be the rug designs, and third
the sand painting designs."
This is a very nice example
of Ida's clean and classic work. The walls of this pottery are
very delicate and it has been polished nicely.
