I was looking for jewelry when this beautiful piece of pottery caught my eye, so I decided to buy it. Now I’m back at home and trying to figure out who the artist is.
OK I have discovered Nancy Chilly she is married to Jackson Yazzie and uses leather stamps on the soft clay. She fires them and then rubs them with pinon sap to seal them. It’s 5-1/4" tall and 4-1/2" in daimeter with a 2-1/8" base and a 1-7/8" hole. I believe it is called a seed pot. The Yei’s are there to protect the contents. Sorry no turquoise, and I won’t make a habit of posting non-jewelry items but I had to show you guys.
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Its a really nice pot and the colours and designs are lovely.
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Awesome piece! Great find.
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No worries here, AC. Personally, I would like to see a sub-forum for other American Indian art.
Our 18 year-old daughter bought herself a Navajo Yei rug at Hubbell this summer, so I showed her your photos and she loved your new pottery. Very nice piece!
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I wouldn’t call this a seed pot, as those usually has much smaller holes. The pine pitch sealant is common for Navajo pottery (see examples by Betty Manygoats, Alice Cling). My husband used to sell NA pottery, but has been out of the business for 25 years. He said the polychrome coloration was unusual for Navajo potters, but the stamping/incising he’s seen before, although not often.
I love how the surface of this pot looks like tooled leather. <3
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Thanks @Jemez2, It’s my first piece of pottery so I thank you for any little bit of information or correction. 
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@TAH, we found both of these in an aunt’s mini storage locker being used as padding between pieces of stored furniture. I don’t know if they are genuine or not. The family has collected these sorts of things so I tend to think they would have had some idea if they were valuable or not.
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@AC - I’m certainly no rug expert, so I’m no help on your aunt’s weavings. Here is our daughter’s rug for comparison. She was drawn to the blue/green background.
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Tell her it’s very nice. I suspect mine is a Mexico knock off of an older 40’s design.
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@AC I am not sure of the Yei’ weaving, maybe you can get a closer picture of the weaving? The bottom weaving is a Hopi/Zuni kilt.
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@Jason, This is the best of the pics that I already have. I have to unpack it to take more but I certainly can if you think it’s anything remotely authentic.
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Believe that one is Mexican.
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Thanks Jason, no surprise, still use it for backdrop for pictures.
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