Hopi-Tewa Canteen, polychromatic paint, with complex loosely jointed abstract feather design centered around a “four-mountain direction” element. The design has two framing lines with break lines; unsigned. Although it is impossible to know who made this canteen, the quality and age suggest that it might be Nampeyo family. The short spout tilts forward, a characteristic Nampeyo trait. The “four-mountain direction” element is distinctive and unusual. Both the “Old Lady” and Annie are known to have used this design. The light, delicate, and somewhat fragmented layout of the design suggests Annie to me. Several other lovers of Nampeyo pottery have suggested that Annie might be the painter.

Purchase History:
Purchased on 7/12/00 on eBay from Jerry Weisberg, of El Cerrito, CA. He had little provenance on the pot: “I purchased the item at a local auction, along with another Hopi plate which I date around 1905. I have no idea whose estate it was but it was somewhere around San Francisco, CA.”