Royalty Free Hopi Pottery Photos

Vintage Hopi Tulip Vase or Cylindrical Jar — Nampeyo?

This pot is slightly taller than 7.25 inches. It is a cylindrical polychrome vase or jar.

The history of Hopi cylindrical jars is somewhat cloudy. They obviously had no functional use for the Hopi, so they must have been made solely to sell to visitors to the Hopi mesas. Whether it was Thomas Pavatea, who ran a trading post at First Mesa, or Thomas Keams, who ran a trading post at Keams� Canyon, is unimportant, but it surely was one of them who suggested to the potters to make these �Anglo-recognizable� shapes as curio items for the tourists. Today, this shape is almost singly associated with Hopi potters.

Recent studies of excavated prehistoric sites at Chaco Canyon have revealed specimens of cylindrical jars. Anthropologist Patricia Crown, from the University of New Mexico, and a colleague from the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, analyzed potsherds and found traces of a compound of cacao. From their research, they have concluded that the cylindrical jars were used to hold chocolate in beverage form. Only a couple hundred complete jars have been found and most of them came from Pueblo Bonito, but many shards that would fit a cylindrical jar shape have been unearthed.

Based on their research, there is a history for pueblo cylindrical jars, but it is still likely that the re-introduction of them at Hopi was not for drinking chocolate beverages but for selling to collectors and tourists.

Seller’s description: Nearly cylindrical vase. Unsigned.

Details/Features:

* Tan to brown glaze; * Painted with black and reddish brown; * What appears to be a bear claw design (see pix).

History:

My father was a professor of Anthropology, and people used to give him things. This is one of them. My mother concluded it was Hano from consulting American Indian Pottery, by John W. Barry (Books Americana, 1981), and finding a comparable vase from 1940 (p. 83, #140). Though something very similar recently sold on eBay and the seller made it as Hopi.

Markings:

Sadly this vase is not signed, but it does bear a mark in pencil on the base indicating a price or $1.00 (NOT my starting bid!).

Dating:

My cursory research indicates that vases like this one were made between around 1910 to 1950. My mother’s notes yeild a date for this one of 1931. But a very similar vase that sold recently on eBay was given a date of 1910 or before, and had a pencil notation on the bottom in what looks like the same handwriting as the one offered here — so the date may be even earlier.

Dimensions:

* Diameters: o base: 3 inches; o widest point: 4.25 inches; o lip: 4 inches; * Height: 7.3125 inches.

Flaws:

Slight wear to the glaze, especially on the base.

Condition:

Very Good to Excellent.