Jar with Butterfly and Sityatki Inspired Designs
Arts of the Americas
Grace Chapella’s designs are inspired by archaeological vessels from the ancient Hopi site of Sityakti, which dates from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century. The butterfly symbolizes man’s spiritual transformation. Mark Tahbo, an accomplished potter and Chapella’s great grandson, interprets the jar’s designs as symbolic of water’s life-giving cycle: the butterflies indicate a burst of life after the spring rains; the wave patterns dotted with cross forms are cornfields surrounded by water; the jagged peaks are the three Hopi mesas in northern Arizona; and the black fingerlike forms are prayer feathers used in rain ceremonies.
Los diseños de Grace Chapella están inspirados en vasijas arqueológicas del antiguo sitio Hopi de Sityakti, el cual data del siglo catorce al siglo quince. La mariposa simboliza la transformación espiritual del hombre. Mark Tahbo, alfarero experto y nieto de Chapella, interpreta los diseños de la jarra como símbolos del ciclo del agua como fuente de vida: las mariposas indican una explosión de vida después de las lluvias de primavera; los diseños ondulados jaspeados con forma de cruz son campos de maíz rodeados por agua, los picos serrados son las tres mesas Hopi al norte de Arizona; y las formas negras que semejan dedos son plumas de oración usadas en ceremonias de lluvia.
MEDIUM
Ceramic, slip
DATES
1951–1960
DIMENSIONS
11 × 15 × 15 in. (27.9 × 38.1 × 38.1 cm)
ACCESSION NUMBER
87.107
CREDIT LINE
Frank L. Babbott Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
This huge water jar is shaped and painted in the Sityaki tradition. It has a white background with a ochre, beige, red and black butterfly design on the top shoulder and more Sityaki-style designs on the base.
Condition: Good
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
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