Nativo Art offers a vast selection of Native American Horsehair Ceramic Pottery made in a unique tradition of Navajo artisans. This style of pottery is made by using hair from the tail and mane of a horse, and is fired using a special technique that is somewhat hazardous and time consuming.
Horsehair pottery lends itself to figures as well as the classic pot shapes. Ceramic pottery is beautiful and collectible. Because the potter does not hand build each pot, instead opting for a pot that comes from a mold, there is more time to spend on the etching and painting. Etching and painting techniques have improved over time and the cost of this type of pottery is less than hand built or hand coiled pots.
The ancient Indian tribes made this pottery to honor a favorite horse or to celebrate the birth of a horse. It is said that this pottery was first created when a long-haired maiden was removing hot pottery from her kiln and the wind blew her hair onto the hot pot and burned the hair into the pottery. The pottery is poured, fired for a period of time after which it is removed from the kiln, and hair from the mane and the tail of a horse are draped on the pottery. Fine lines are created with the hair from the mane of the horse, and thick lines are created from the hair of the tail. The hair creates the dark lines and the smoke from the burning hair creates the cloudy grey areas. The pottery is then returned to the kiln where firing is completed. Then the pottery is removed from the kiln, etched and spray-glazed.
Check out our collection of Horsehair Pottery that has been curated and selected with love by Maria, and is created in Arizona and New Mexico by several potters.
If you are planning a trip to the Solvang, California or the Santa Ynez Valley area, we invite you to visit our shop. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on our website, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!
