Potter mixing clay. Photographer: Curtis, Edward Sheriff
Scope & Content:
Portrait of an elderly woman kneading clay on a wooden board: 'This woman, so aged that her shrivelled skin hangs in folds, still finds pleasure in creating artistic and utilitarian pieces of pottery.'
Head-and-shoulders full-face portrait of a Hopi man: 'In this physiognomy we read the dominant traits of Hopi character. The eyes speak of wariness, if not downright distrust. The mouth shows great possibilities of unyielding stubbornness. Yet somewhere in this face lurks an expression of masked...
Walpi architecture. Photographer: Curtis, Edward Sheriff
Scope & Content:
View along a street in Walpi, looking along the facades of the houses: 'The house-walls are about eighteen inches thick, and consist of fragments of sandstone, shaped by fracture but undressed, and bound together with mud plaster. The upper levels of the terraced buildings are reached by ladders...
Snake dancers entering the plaza. Photographer: Curtis, Edward Sheriff
Scope & Content:
View of the dancers, apparently taken on the same occasion as plate 404: 'At the right stand the Antelopes, in front of the booth containing the snake-jars. The Snakes enter the plaza, encircle it four times with military tread, and then after a series of songs remarkable for their irresistible ...
Primitive style of hairdressing. Photographer: Curtis, Edward Sheriff
Scope & Content:
Half-length full-face portrait of a young woman: 'The arrangement imitates the squash-blossom and indicates virginity. Within the last decade it has become rare, except on ceremonial occasions.'
General view of houses, with the central square around which they are gathered, in the foreground: 'A comprehensive view of this interesting Middle Mesa pueblo. On an eminence in the middle background is Shipaulovi, and at the right, several miles distant, is Shongopavi, on another tongue of the...
Seated portrait of the potter, at work painting a pot: 'Every visitor at East mesa knows Nampeyo, the potter of Hano, whose creations excel those of any rival. Strangers wander into her house, welcome though unbidden, but Nampeyo only works and smiles. In the plate her paint-stone occupies the c...