Hopi Pueblo Pottery By Featherwoman

Mid/Late 20th Century

9.125" H x 8.125" D

Hand Coiled with Terracotta Colored Speckled Background and with a Dark Brown Lizard and Geometric Design and a Feather Hallmark on the Bottom

In Good Condition with Large Crack at the Base and is Stabilized 

Hopi Pueblo Pottery by Featherwoman was the renowned traditional pottery created by Helen Naha (1922–1993), a highly influential Hopi-Tewa potter from Hano on First Mesa, Arizona. She is widely known as "Feather Woman" (or "Featherwoman") because she signed her pieces with a distinctive feather hallmark (often a painted feather design on the bottom), which became her iconic signature.

Helen Naha was mostly self-taught and drew inspiration from ancient pottery fragments and bowls excavated from the Awatovi ruins on Hopi First Mesa. Her work helped revive and innovate traditional Hopi styles. She was part of a prominent pottery family: daughter-in-law to Paqua Naha (the original "Frog Woman") and sister-in-law to Joy Navasie (another "Frog Woman"). Helen is considered the first Featherwoman, and some of her descendants (like daughter Rainy Naha or others in the family) have also used similar names or styles.