Melon jar

About the Melon Jar

The lives of the various centuries-old pueblo cultures have been based on the cycles of agriculture, specifically the growing and harvesting cycles of the "three sisters": maize, squash and beans. Melon jars are specifically about emulating the different forms of the squash that they cultivated.

Most melon jars are coiled round first, then carved and polished into their final shapes. Helen Shupla (of Santa Clara) perfected a method of forming a melon shape by coiling the jar, smoothing it, then pushing out ribs from the inside. She taught that method to her daughter, Jeannie, and to her Hopi son-in-law, Alton Komalestewa.

After Helen and Jeannie died, Alton got together with Jake Koopee and Jake showed him how he could work the same way using Hopi clay. Jake made three melon jars to show Alton, and they were the only melon jars Jake ever made.

Some Hopi potters still make melon jars and bowls, as do some potters at Jemez, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Ohkay Owingeh and Taos.

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