Hopi tewa pottery nampeyo biography of michael

Hopi-Tewa potter (–)

Nampeyo (^[1] – )^[2] was a Hopi-Tewa potter who lived on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona.^[3][4] Her Tewa name was also spelled Num-pa-yu, meaning "snake that does not bite".

Her name is also cited as "Nung-beh-yong," Tewa for Sand Snake.^[5]

She used ancient techniques for making and firing pottery and used designs from "Old Hopi" pottery and shards found at 15th-century Sikyátki ruins on First Mesa.^[6] Her artwork is in collections in the United States and Europe, including many museums like the National Museum of American Art, Museum of Northern Arizona, Spurlock Museum, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

A world record for Southwest American Indian pottery was declared at Bonhams Auction House in San Francisco on December 6, , when one of Nampeyo's art works, a decorated ceramic pot, sold for $,^[7]

Early life

Nampeyo was born on