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Message:: [QUOTE="Taupou, post: 945407, member: 45"]First, I'm not totally convinced that the signature is "Zora Silas," but I can't actually make out what it says. Second, I'm not sure there is a potter "Zora Silas."  According to Gregory Schaaf's Hopi-Tewa Pottery, 500 Artist Biographies, there was an Annetta Silas, who had four sons and three daughters: Gertrude (Adams), Zora (Polinyama), and Hattie (Navajo).  It's possible this is an early piece, before Zora married and took the surname Polinyama, but she is not listed under either Silas or Polinyama as one of the 500 potters. Third, the few pots I see listed on the internet as being signed "Zora Silas" all seem to be of different style, with differences in the way the name is signed, and in some cases seem to have be "re-signed" by someone (with a felt pen even.)  And most of those are on "dubious" websites. So I would definitely rely more on Gregory Shaff than on the internet. Some contain misspelled names, such as "Polacea" or "Palanca," neither of which exist.  The town is "Polacca."  Annetta was from Sichomovi, which is on First Mesa. Roberta Silas (not related to Annetta) was from Polacca, and had four daughters, Antoinette, Venora, Louanne, and Jo Fern (Puffer). There is also a Hattie Silas, and Joy Silas (from Polacca), who are evidently not related to either of the other Silas families. Finally, almost all Hopi designs are taken from prehistoric Hopi pottery symbols and patterns.  They have names (see the appendix to Schaaf's book) but meanings probably depend on the individual potter's intentions, and would have to be explained by her/him.[/QUOTE]

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