230601-029 Hopi Pueblo Pottery by Rondina Huma
Late 20th Century
5.5" x 9.5"D
Relatively thin walled black on red jar with large open mouth and polished interior. Very handsome and in Excellent Condition.
Rondina Huma
Rondina Huma (b.1947) is from Keams Canyon, Arizona, and she has continuously lived in the Hopi village of Polacca since childhood. Without any commercial training, she has mastered the art of traditional Hopi Pottery making and has become one of the most influential Hopi potters working today. Her intricately painted pottery has changed the face of contemporary Hopi pottery. Each piece is coil-built, fully stone-polished and painted with native clays and beeweed (black vegetal paint), and native fired. She has won the “Best of Show” award at Santa Fe Indian Market twice, in 1986 and 1997, a remarkable achievement for an artist. Her work is consistent and of outstanding quality, with precision painting and continual innovation of design. Rondina often signs her work with the Parrot symbol for her clan, her name, and Hopi-Tewa. Her beautiful pottery is visually important and is always a great addition to any collection.
“This style is when I first started designing from the bottom to the top. I would get a bunch of sherds and I would put them together and see what pattern they created. Then I would take back the sherds to where I found them. I also polish the inside of all my pottery. People ask how I do it and how I can get so deep inside. I just think it makes a bowl look nicer if it is fully polished. I do most of the painting freehand. When I look at a pot, I already know what design I’m going to put on there. I can visualize what I’m going to paint, and it is never the same. I don’t really use a pencil—I’m afraid it won’t come off. I try to just measure with my hand to space out the designs.” Rondina Huma, Spoken Through Clay