"Nampeyo" The Potter

Nampeyo (1859 –1942) was a Hopi-Tewa potter who lived on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. Her Tewa name was also spelled Num-pa-yu, meaning “snake that does not bite”.

She used ancient techniques for making and firing pottery and used designs from “Old Hopi” pottery and sherds found at 15th-century Sikyátki ruins on First Mesa.

A world record for Southwest American Indian pottery was declared at Bonhams Auction House in San Francisco on December 6, 2010, when one of Nampeyo’s art works, a decorated ceramic pot, sold for $350,000.

This monocolor is an acrylic painting on a 16X20 gallery-wrapped canvas.