Scottsdale’s Museum of the West Honors Hopi Legacy

More than 65 of the finest examples of Hopi pottery will go on exhibit for the first time Sat., Sept.16, when the “Canvas of Clay: Hopi Pottery Masterworks from The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection” exhibition opens at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.

Spanning six centuries, the exhibition explores the history and stylistic traditions of the Hopi, who have excelled in the creation of ceramics for generations. Among the historic and contemporary masterworks are 18 ceramics by Nampeyo of Hano (Hopi/Tewa, c. 1860-1942), the most famous of the Hopi potters. Twenty-two other master potters are also represented in the exhibition, including Nampeyo’s daughters and other descendants.

“The City of Scottsdale is privileged to provide its residents and the millions of annual visitors to our community with the opportunity to see this national treasure first-hand,” says W.J. “Jim” Lane, Scottsdale mayor. “It serves as a point of pride not only for the city, but for the state of Arizona.”

The exhibition includes approximately half of The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection, one of the finest private collections of Hopi pottery, which has been gifted to the museum. Ceramics from the collection will be permanently featured in a new museum gallery, The Allan and Judith Cooke Gallery. Sponsored by the City of Scottsdale, the gallery honors the donor and his late wife, and the Hopi people whose tribal land lies in northern Arizona.

Postcard (L-R), Fannie Nampeyo (Hopi, 1900-1987) and Nampeyo of Hano (Hopi/Tewa, c. 1860-1942)

“We are honored to be entrusted with this exquisite collection,” says Mike Fox, museum director and CEO. “This exhibition is an ongoing tribute to the people of Hopi, and as such serves as an important resource for research, education and inspiration for the tribe, our local community, students, artisans and visitors worldwide. We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Cooke’s generosity and this opportunity to celebrate these gifted artists.”

According to Tricia Loscher, chief curator of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, Native American artists played a vital role in transforming Scottsdale from a small farming and ranching community into a nationally acclaimed creative and artistic regional hub. Among the best known are fashion and textile designer Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) and jeweler and potter Charles Loloma (Hopi), who have inspired generations of Native American artists with their innovative designs.

Shortly after World War II, New founded Scottsdale’s Craftsman Court on Main Street and then, in the early 1950s, the highly successful Kiva Craft Center (a series of small shops operated by individual artists) on Scottsdale’s Fifth Avenue. Loloma and his wife, Otellie Loloma, (Hopi) were the first tenants of the Kiva Craft Center.

“This collection tells seven centuries of stories about Hopi life and culture, and speaks to how the cultural legacy of the Hopi pottery tradition is carried on today by the descendants who create their own masterful ceramics,” says Loscher. “Having these pots return to Arizona, and placed on permanent exhibit in Scottsdale, is especially relevant given the integral role Native American artists and their artworks played in elevating the city’s cultural standing.”

Exhibitions of ceramics from the Cooke collection will be in ongoing rotation in the new, permanent gallery. The inaugural “Canvas of Clay” exhibition is on view through December 2019.

 

(left to right) Nampeyo of Hano (Hopi/Tewa, c.1860-1942), unchained melody jar, c. 1905-1907. Nampeyo of Hano (Hopi/Tewa, c. 1860-1942), polychrome storage jar with appliqué, c. 1905. Les Namingha (Hopi/Zuni, b. 1967), jar, c. 1997. Gifts of The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection. PHOTO BY BILL DAMBROVA

 

ABOUT THE COLLECTORS

Allan Cooke, M.D., and his late wife, Judith Cooke (1945-2001), began collecting indigenous Southwestern pottery more than 25 years ago after a driving vacation to Santa Fe, N.M., from the couple’s home in Kansas City, Kan.

Fannie Polacca Nampeyo (Hopi, 1900-1987),
migration pattern jar, 1967.
PHOTO BY GARY ROHMAN

Their passion for Hopi pottery grew over the years, as did their collection. The Cookes admired not only the Hopi potters’ sculpture and painting skills, but also their manual craftsmanship. Traditional Hopi potters hand coil and scrape the clay, sculpting the pot or bowl with extraordinary sensitivity, without using a mechanized wheel to throw a vessel.

In time, the Cookes’ Hopi pottery collection grew to reflect the evolution of Hopi ceramics over seven centuries, spanning all of the major Hopi stylistic traditions. The more than 120 pieces in The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection include early black on white ware; 14th- through 16th-century Sikyatki polychrome (multi-color) masterworks characterized by exuberantly painted and sculpted ceramics; and more fluid, artistic interpretations by Hopi potters of the 20th and 21st centuries.

As a professor of medicine at the University of Kansas, Cooke became aware of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. “After touring the museum, hearing what the museum’s director had to say about the aims for the future of the enterprise and the sincerity of the vision, I must say I was most impressed,” Cooke says. “I believe the leadership will make this a great museum. For these reasons and others, I am gifting my collection of Hopi pottery to the Museum of the West.”

 


Canvas of Clay: Hopi Pottery Masterworks from The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection

Sept.16, 2017 – Dec. 2019

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, 3830 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale

For more information, visit scottsdalemuseumwest.org or call 480-686-9539.

 

About Perrine Adams

Perrine Adams is the Managing Editor of The Red Book and Lifestyle Editor for Frontdoors Magazine.
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