Featured Navajo Wedding Vase Signature and style help.

Found this beautiful vase at my local thrift. It is 8" tall.
Signed on the bottom AB Navajo H/H.
Hope someone might be able to tell me who the artist is and the type of spiderweb effect this is. It is also carved on the front with a hummingbird? and flower.
Mikey

 

Well that was easy. it is called Horse hair..

 

An

And despite all the claims online, the "horsehair" pottery technique was not invented by the Navajo, or Acoma, or any Native American tribe. It was an outgrowth of the American raku pottery process (also called post-firing reduction), credited to American potter Paul Soldner, in the 1960s.

American raku involves taking a red-hot pot out of the kiln, and putting it in an atmosphere where there is no oxygen, causing a chemical reaction that turns the clay body black when it can't get oxygen. If something like horsehair is placed on the red-hot pot, it can also turn the clay black where it ignites and blocks the oxygen.

Studio potters all over the country were doing raku, and making horsehair pottery in the 1960s/1970s. I was teaching pottery in the 1970s, and remember seeing my first piece of horsehair pottery in a gallery in Santa Fe, made by a studio potter. It wasn't until years later that it was picked up, and "claimed" by some Native American potters in the Southwest.

It was probably found that a "story" to accompany the pots helped sales. So just like in the case of "wedding vases," a fantasy story was created, and repeated, ended up on line, and now is believed by many.

Those stories usually start with "it is said..." or "according to legend..." or claims that the process is "an ancient technique..." none of which is true. It's a process invented by an American studio potter in the 1960s/1970s, and done by countless studio potters and hobby potters world-wide ever since, and now by Native American potters.

Don't be misled by unsubstantiated claims or attempts to rewrite history, even if it's on numerous websites!

 

Thank you very much Taupou. Very informative.
Mikey

 

@Taupou..........you are amazing..................

 

@Taupou very interesting & informative.

 

Very true. There are countless "opinions" on websites about all manner of items, and many of them are trumped-up articles without any substance. They then often become used by others as a source of information, with further embellishments added from one website to the next.

 

This is done by Navajo though. With basic 20th century adopted applications. This is all very interesting. I would still like to know if this is made by a known artist? @Any Jewelry any thoughts?

 

I do, but not on your vase, sorry.
Taupou is much more knowledgeabe in this area.

 

The short answer is, no it's not made by a known artist.

The longer version: identifying pottery signed as "Navajo" is like trying to identify studio pottery, it's just about impossible, and, with few exceptions, will make little difference.

It is actually complicated by several factors. Like most Navajo pottery, this piece is a decorated and fired a greenware piece, purchased from a wholesale supplier. So one can't get any clues from a potter's style, since it is simply one of thousands produced from a mold in a factory.

The decorating technique may help, but every horsehair piece is different. The only thing one can look at is the style of carving.

Unfortunately, there are few "recognized" Navajo potters, considering the tribe is the largest in the nation. The reason is that the Navajo have little history of making traditional pottery. Incised pottery signed "Navajo" basically dates back only to the 1990s, but a huge amount has been produced since then.

Only a few potters make true "traditional," all hand-made, pinon pine pitch-coated pots. Most Navajo pottery is made strictly for the tourist trade, and features adaptions of the traditional work of other cultures, tribes, or potters.

This is complicated further by the fact that many Navajo "potters" actually are working for factories producing souvenir pottery, and end up simply signing the pieces with initials, followed by "Navajo."

This is not to say that there aren't some well-known potters, such as members of Alice Cling's family, or the Manygoats and Goodman families from the Cow Springs area. The book "Navajo Folk Art, The People Speak" by Chuck and Jan Rosenak is the best reference on them.

 

Perhaps this belongs more in the Rants and Raves category, but it seems to me that whenever an "unfamiliar" Native American item turns up on the well-known on-line platform, it is assumed to be "Navajo." Or sellers think that all southwestern tribes are somehow related to the Navajo.

The Navajo are known for their weaving, jewelry, and folk art, but, primarily due to religious/cultural restrictions in the 1900s, have virtually no cultural tradition of making pottery or baskets, compared to that of other tribes.

The weaving actually can be traced back to the influence of the local puebloan tribes, the jewelry to the Mexican/Spanish influence. The folk art, however, represents the true, traditional Navajo art! The book "Navajo Folk Art, The People Speak," says it all.

 

Thank you very much for your explanation. @Taupou I really appreciate the learning about things that you offer to us.
Mikey

 

Do you guys get The Great Pottery Throw Down? This week's was raku using feathers, grass and even their own hair!

 

I always try not to miss it! I watched the Raku episode and was fascinated. Its also worth watching just to see that guy balling is eyes out!!!

 

That raku looked damn dangerous, didn't it.

 

All in the good name of "Art."
When I think back to my glass blowing days and the dangerous/toxic chemicals I played with in order to produce a decorative effect, I feel lucky to still be alive! I also feel for the glass-workers of yesteryear who worked with Uranium, Arsenic and all manner of substances without any safety precautions in place.

 

@Taupou I also see lots of jewellery being sold under the name of Navajo. I guess its used to describe all manner of items that are Native American Indian in style? Of course true vintage items are extremely desirable and can command very high prices, which in turn attracts "The Dupers" and "Fakers" to knock-out repo's by the wagon load... It pays to know your subject very well indeed when purchasing any kind of handmade antiquity. Many forgeries are so well made they can dupe serious collectors, auctioneers and even museums at times. Galle cameo glass being just one!

 

I think for many sellers who don't specialize in Native American art, "Navajo" is the first thing they think of when it comes to tribal affiliation, so anything that looks remotely Southwest in style, they assume to be Navajo. It could just as easily be Santo Domingo, Zuni, or a Philippine or Bangkok fake...it all gets identified as Navajo. The imports copy the stamps of known southwest jewelry makers, so even if it is "signed," it doesn't mean it is Native American.

It's a real problem for the Native American jewelry makers, the majority of whom depend on the craft for their livelihood.