Pottery Attributed to Nampeyo, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
My great-grandfather was fascinated with the West. And then my grandfather, his son, took the train out to Denver from New York, and rode 800 miles with a group of Native Americans and spent time with the Navajo, uh, Hopi, and a few other tribes.
APPRAISER:
So these were just items he acquired along the way?
GUEST:
Yes, and I'm not sure what my great-grandfather got versus what my grandfather got, but their trips were all finished by 1916, so everything would pre-date that.
APPRAISER:
Have you put any study into them?
GUEST:
I think they're Hopi.
APPRAISER:
Just east of the Hopi First Mesa, there was a pueblo that had been abandoned in the 16th century, but there was a potter by the name of Nampeyo that lived in the region. She would go down and find shards, and it inspired her to create a revival of that pottery style. She was born in 1859, died in 1942.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And it's very difficult to authenticate her pieces. She never signed any of her pieces, but there's an elegance to them. She used a lot of bird wings. These are really beautiful examples, and I would attribute them as Nampeyo.
GUEST:
Oh, really? Oh, neat.
APPRAISER:
Probably date to the time that he was there in 1916.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So they're from the turn of the century.
GUEST:
Okay. And what is this? Is that, like, a...
APPRAISER:
It's a canteen.
GUEST:
A canteen? Okay.
APPRAISER:
And it's a personal use canteen.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And there were enough people coming through that she was making these to sell to visitors.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The canteen is charming, absolutely charming. And at auction, I'd put an estimate of maybe $1,200 to $1,800 on it.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
The bowl has a lug for hanging, and would, they would hang them in their own homes, would carry a price of $2,000 to $3,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
This center bowl is as elegant as they can be. It has great form, beautiful color, exquisite painting. And I would place its value at $12,000 to $14,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my God! Wow. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
So... So...
GUEST:
Well, thank you. That's fab, that's great news. (laughs)
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