Hopi Pueblo. <em>Tile</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay, slip, 3 3/8 x 3in. (8.5 x 7.6cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X1047.7. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X1047.7_PS2.jpg)

Hopi Pueblo. Tile, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay, slip, 3 3/8 x 3in. (8.5 x 7.6cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X1047.7. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X1047.7_PS2.jpg)

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These tiles reflect a long-standing tradition of ceramics in the southwestern pueblos dating from 7500 B.C.E. to the present day. Historically all pottery production was for Native use but the Hopi began making tiles for decoration in the 19th century, like the ones you see in that drawer.

The designs on these tiles mirrored the abstracted motifs on their pottery. By the early 20th century, merchants and collectors passing through the region created a market for portable Native tokens. Small bowls and decorative tiles using traditional Hopi designs filled this market nicely.

Tile

Arts of the Americas

Ceramics have a long-standing tradition in the southwestern pueblos dating from 7500 B.C.E. to the present day. Originally all pottery production was for Native use, and specific shapes, designs, and colors can be attributed to specific pueblos. The Hopi—Pueblo people living in the southwestern United States—began making tiles for decoration in the nineteenth century. Their designs mirrored the abstracted motifs used on their pottery. By the early twentieth century, especially after the advent of the Santa Fe railroad in the 1870s, non-Native merchants and collectors passing through the region created a demand for portable Native tokens. Entrepreneurial Native potters made small bowls and decorative tiles using traditional Hopi and Pueblo designs to fulfill this commercial opportunity.

CULTURE Hopi Pueblo

MEDIUM Clay, slip

Place Made: First Mesa, Arizona, United States

DATES late 19th–early 20th century

DIMENSIONS 3 3/8 x 3in. (8.5 x 7.6cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER X1047.7

CREDIT LINE Brooklyn Museum Collection

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Rectangular flat tile, with white slip. Head of a kachina doll with elaborate headdress, two half-circles at the bottom of the tile. A brown slip overall, double black border. No holes. Made in a mold. CONDITION: Good.

EXHIBITIONS

Small Wonders from the American Collection

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Hopi Pueblo. Tile, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay, slip, 3 3/8 x 3in. (8.5 x 7.6cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X1047.7. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X1047.7_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, X1047.7_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

What were these built for? How were they used?