7 1/2" diameter x 6 3/4" high

excellent condition

ex: Gallery 10, Scottsdale, 2000; Private Collection

circa 3rd quarter 20th century

SOLD

(mc2185)

Helen Shupla is renowned for her refined melon jars. While there is a long history of this form in the Pueblos, the melon jars that Helen made achieved a pinnacle in the beauty of the form. Helen did not add clay to form the ribs of the melon; she pushed the clay out from the center, a method in which it is easy to make a mistake and break the continuity of the clay.

She seems to have made more black melon jars than red. As a result, collectors particularly value her red melon jars. Helen died in 1985.