Stunning Hopi Polacca Jar with Shalako Birds, c.1880

Description

Hopi Polacca Jar with Shalako Birds, c.1880
This is an early Hopi Jar from around 1880 with the craquelure in the slip characteristic of traditional Polacca pottery. Clay and pigments in the paint are consistent with established early Hopi pottery techniques and examples. The shoulder design has two rows of Shalako birds flying in an up down alternating pattern. Traditionally, these birds represent the large Shalako figure in Hopi and Zuni winter ceremonies. The diamond alternating design below seems to show wind above mountains. A Little over 3 1/2 inches at widest diameter and about 3 inches tall. Purchased from the estate sale of an old academic over 20 years ago who had written a few books on native pottery Absolutely stunning little piece.
Any traditional Hopi potter, including Nampeyo, could have made this jar. These designs are traditional at Hopi and do not show influence from Nampeyo’s Sikyatki Revival. This ceramic precedes her creation of the Sikyatki Revival Art Movement in the mid-1880s because these traditional designs do not show any influence from the earlier ceramics that influenced Nampeyo’s creation of the Sikyatki Revival.
In the tradition of the people of the American Southwest especially those related to the Hopi and Zuni branch of peoples, Shalako refers both to an annual winter solstice ceremony, as well as to spirit deities perceived as giant, beaked messengers to the gods. Six Shalako messengers, one for each cosmic direction (the four cardinal directions as well as one for above and one for below), carry prayers from the tribe to the gods all year long. After the fall harvest, close to the winter solstice, as the year transitions from old to new, the Shalako ceremony takes place. It includes dances, prayers, remembrance of ancestors, and ritual blessings for health and fertility.