Native American Vessel

I am intrigued by this horsehair vase that stands about 9" tall. Is this hopi? Any information on the age and artist/potter would be appreciated.

Thank you
Dan

 

First, the short answer. It isn't Hopi. "Bia" is a common Navajo surname, and the decoration is in the style of contemporary pottery. It was probably made within the last 5 years or so.

 

The internet is filled with pages telling how horsehair pottery is an old Indian art, how the technique was "discovered" by a Navajo woman, or an Acoma woman potter, or any number of other tribal potters. None of this is true. It has become an interesting sales pitch, and good marketing technique, but it is not factual. It has become one of those "urban legends" that everyone believes, but no one can prove.

The fact is, studio potters were making horsehair decorated pottery in the late 1960's. It was an outgrowth of the raku process (started by Paul Soldner in 1960.) Raku workshops were given all over the country, and studio potters experimented with it, and developed the technique of horsehair decorated pots.

There were articles published in Ceramics Monthly Magazine in 1966 on how to do it, and probably every college student who took pottery classes in the 1970's experimented at some time with it. Workshops, textbooks, classes, featured it. I bought a piece in 1971. It started showing up in galleries, as potters improved their techniques.

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, the first horsehair pots started appearing in southwest tourist gift shops, when the process was used by some Navajo potters. Unlike studio potters, who made their own pots on a potter's wheel, the Navajo bought greenware forms to do horsehair pottery firings, because it is so easy and fast to do, and wholesalers in Gallup had recently started selling the molded forms. Then a few pueblo potters started making it.

The "creative," but false, stories about its history, followed, were re-told by tourists who heard it from an Indian potter, and once everyone was connected to the internet, the fabricated stories were spread by people "researching" on the internet.

 

Thanks for sharing this background

 

Just an example of how some of the "history" about horsehair pottery found on the internet was evidently written by someone who knew nothing about pottery, or Native Americans:

http://desertroseceramics.com/home/history-horsehair-pottery/

"...horsehair pottery was first discovered by the Navajo. One day, a Pueblo potter woman went to remove her pottery from the fire pit. As she did, some of her long hair caught in the breeze and accidentally touched the hot vessel. Her hair burnt and created a black trail of smoke on the piece..."

The writer evidently didn't know that the Navajo are not "Pueblo" people, and are totally unrelated to any puebloan tribes.

Or that potters with long hair always tie it back when firing, to prevent unexpected tragedies. Which would certainly have happened if her hair had hit a pot just taken from the fire. If it was hot enough to burn the pattern permanently into the pot, her whole head of hair would have burst into flame, and that would have been the end of the story.

That's also why horsehair, which is a lot thicker than human hair, is used. It's thick enough to leave a pattern, and you can safely remove it from the horse before placing it on the pot.

 

still.....nice vase.....excellent photo's !!!

 

I agree Komo, I really like the vase .. Joy.

 

This is my first post here. I have bought a small (5" tall x 4.5" at widest point vase at an estate sale in Washington state. I thought I recognized it as being Navajo and I'm not surprised that it is very likely quite contemporary. I am writing to ask who "A. Bia" is? Internet searching is only revealing that Bia is a common name for creative people! When I found this thread, I hoped someone might know more about the artist. I'm also curious if there is any significance to the pattern. Thank you all very much!

Pete

 

Oops! Forgot to upload the pics!

 

Welcome, Pete! If any member here would know about A. Bia, it would be @Taupou who was involved in the early discussion. She did not indicate at that time that she had specific info, but that was 18 months ago. Perhaps she had learned more. Now that I have tagged her, she'll know to visit again.

 

the wide design in the center...feathers..

 

Bia is a fairly common Navajo surname. There are several weavers with that last name, and a couple jewelry makers, but I am not aware of who "A. Bia" is.

This type of pottery is not traditional Navajo pottery. It is usually referred to by the potters themselves as "ceramic" (as opposed to "pottery.") Instead of being traditionally handmade from local clay, it's made in a mold, usually purchased from a wholesale supplier, and fired in an electric kiln. The Navajo craftsperson decorates the pot, but doesn't make it.

A few potters in the Cow Springs/Shonto area, still make traditional pinon pine coated pottery. But elsewhere on the reservation, Navajo potters began making this style of etched greenware, non-traditional pottery, primarily for the tourist trade, in the 1970s.

Plus many Navajo workers have taken jobs working for the factories that produce tourist pottery, sometimes decorating it, sometimes just finishing and "signing" it so the company could claim it was "Navajo pottery."

Today there's a wide range of Navajo pottery on the market, from traditional, to factory-made tourist souvenirs. So where this falls on the scale, I really can't say, other than it obviously isn't traditional Navajo pottery, which is what I am most familiar with.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. You've added to my store of knowledge and I appreciate it! It makes sense that this is a tourist piece. This was the only SW pottery I saw at this particular sale...

Thanks again. Pete.

 

Thank you for tagging her. She did reply as you expected!

 

I appreciate the info. Thanks!