The most characteristic Hopi pottery bearing symbols of the Sikyatki
epoch occurs in a few ruins near the Hopi mesas, but from lack of
exploration it is impossible to determine the boundaries of the area in
which it is found.
Several museums contain collections of Hopi ware of this epoch, among
which may be mentioned the National Museum at Washington, the Field
Columbian Museum of Natural History at Chicago, the Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania, the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, and the
Museum für Volkerkünde at Berlin, Germany. Many bowls of this epoch are
likewise found in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and
in the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute. Several private collections in
Europe and the United States likewise contain specimens of Sikyatki ware,
among them being that gathered by the late Dr. Miller, now at Phoenix,
Arizona. The collection of prehistoric Hopi pottery in the National
Museum is particularly rich, containing many specimens gathered by the
Stevenson expeditions, by the author, and by Dr. Hough, of the U. S.
National Museum.
The symbols on the ancient pottery from the Middle Mesa of the Hopi are
almost identical with those of Sikyatki, indicating a similarity of
culture, a common geographical origin, and a synchronous culture. From
the character of the symbols on the ancient pottery from the ancient
Middle Mesa pueblos it is probable that the clans who founded them
came, like the colonists who settled Sikyatki, from the Jemez plateau
in New Mexico. Although the Field collection is very rich in old Walpi
ware, nothing of importance has been published on the symbols of this
collection; it contains some of the most instructive examples of the
Sikyatki epoch. A large and probably the most valuable portion of this
collection was gathered by Dr. George A. Dorsey and Mr. Charles L. Owen,
while many pieces were purchased from Mr. Frank Wattron, of Holbrook, and
from the late Mr. T. V. Keam, of Keams Canyon, Arizona. The source of
many of the Wattron specimens is unknown, but it is evident from their
decoration that some of them are ancient Hopi and probably belong to the
Sikyatki epoch and came from Shongopovi, Awatobi, or Sikyatki.
Shortly before his death Mr. T. V. Keam sold to the Museum für
Volkerkünde at Berlin, Germany, a rich collection of pottery obtained
mainly from Awatobi and Sikyatki, containing several specimens of the
Sikyatki epoch which are highly instructive. Some of the designs on the
pottery of this collection are unique, and their publication would be a
great aid to a study of the most important epoch of Hopi ceramics.
A large proportion of life-forms used in the decoration of Sikyatki
pottery are mythological subjects, showing the predominance of
supernatural beings and their magic power in the minds of the makers.
Like a child, the primitive artist is fond of complexity of detail, and
figures in which motion is indicated appealed more to his fancy than
those objects that do not move. It needs but a glance at the ancient
Sikyatki life-figures to show a tendency to represent detail and to
convince one of the superiority of the Sikyatki potters in this respect
over those of modern times. There has been a gradual deterioration, not
only less care being now devoted to the technique of the pottery but
also to the drawing of the figures. This lack in itself is significant,
for while modern ware reflects in its hasty crudeness the domination of
commercialism, the ancient pottery shows no indication of such influence.
Pottery is now made to please the purchaser; in ancient times another
motive influenced the maker, for then it was a product worthy of the
highest use to which it could be put, since it often formed a part of
sacred paraphernalia in religious ceremonies.