Antoinette Honie was known as one of the Silas family of Hopi potters. She has won many awards and done many shows over time. She has been featured in many publications over time. Now she is sadly the only one of her family still practicing her art. This pot is about 7 inches across and about 6 inches high. It features Sikyatki designs of the Hopi people, mostly parrot tail feathers, prayer feathers, scrolls, parrot beaks, rain clouds and kiva steps. Antoinette was taught the art of pottery by her mother, the late Roberta Silas. She still makes her pottery the traditional way. The clay is dug and prepared over weeks, hand coiled, painted with a yucca thread and then dung fired. Hopi pottery continues to be some of the most Tradional and collectible pottery in the world. Other tribes have moved away from tradition and are etching pottery and using slip casting and greenware but not the Hopi. All painting on this pot are natural dyes prepared by Antoinette. Free shipping
This incredible, large Sikyatki style bowl was created by the talented Hopi potter, Antoinette Silas Honie. She has been an active Hopi potter since the age of 15. She attributes much of her development and success to mother, Roberta Silas:
"At 15 years of age I went to demonstrate at Bloom Field, Indiana University. I learned to make pottery from my mother Roberta Silas. Some designs I use are inherited from my mother and some I have developed myself. I ship a lot of my pottery to Jackson Hole Wyoming. I have won ribbons and awards at the Northern Arizona Museum. I also market my products to collectors. I want to tell the world that everything is done with traditional native products and that it is very laborsome."
Antoinette has appeared in magazines and publications dealing primarily with Native American art and Hopi Pottery, in particularly. These include Hopi-Tewa Potters by Gregory Schaaf, p. 154; and Art of the Hopi, Contemporary Journeys on Ancient Pathways by Jerry and Lois Essary Jacka, p. 53. Her work also appears as the back cover shot on Art of the Hopi, as merit of her artistic prowess.
As she mentioned, Antoinette has also won numerous awards, including ribbons at the Museum of Northern Arizona Hopi Marketplace, and is best known for her abstract parrot images (indicative of her clan), terraced clouds, and other traditional Hopi symbols which are reminiscient of the pottery shards from the Sikyatki ruins area.
We were very pleased to see that a pottery as large and as delicate as this one came through the firing process intact. Although kiln fired, Antoinette always stresses the importance of "natural process" when creating Hopi pottery. Everything else is done by hand, from gathering the clay to coiling the pot and applying the natural pigments. This piece is no exception. Long hours of persperation combined with incredible inspiration have yielded yet another increasingly beautiful masterpiece by Antoinette.
