Kachina and Cornstalks: Delmar Polacca Carved Hopi Pottery
Delmar Polacca was born in 1959, the son of Tom Polacca, the renowned Hopi potter from the village of Polacca, on Hopi first mesa, who initiated the genre of carved pottery in Hopi. The Nampeyo-Polacca Family is now in its fifth generation of potters and is listed in the book "Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery."
Delmar works in the same carved style as his father Tom, that of deeply carved scenes of Hopi culture. His carvings are very precise and refined. Delmar learned his techniques by watching his grandmother Fannie, his father Tom, his aunts, uncles and cousins. He invented the marbling of Red and Light clay, which is a very difficult technique. Delmar has only been making pottery since 1993 but has already won many awards at the Hopi Show, the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Mesa Verde Show and most recently the Zuni Art Show.
Although a full time potter, Delmar still returns to First Mesa in the Hopi reservation over fifty miles away to gather rock deposits. He paints with Wild Spanish juice. He constructs his pots with handmade coils and fires them 2 to 4 hours using horse manure. In the painting of the pots he expresses the history of the Hopi people. Recently Delmar has won two best of show awards at the Zuni Indian art show and the southwest Indian art show Delmar has won many other awards through the years.
Seed pots, like the one shown here, held the seeds throughout the winter for planting in the spring. Delmar, like his father Thomas, hand builds these pieces and then carefully incises the clay to form the decorations. He then stains the clay to emphasize the carving and fires it.
The pot is decorated with a Kachina face, cornstalks, and other Hopi symbols, and measures 2 inches tall by 6 inches in diameter. It is signed by Delmar.
Item No.: A1618
Artist: Tom Polacca
Size: 2 in H x 6 in D
Price: 600
