William R. Leigh
1866-1955
Potter of Orabi
MEDIUM: Oil on board
DIMENSIONS: 10 x 10 1/2 inches
Signed lower left
SOLD FOR: $ 58,500
Including Buyers Premium
2018,
LOT 204
Additional Information
Oraibi, a Hopi village in Arizona, was one of those ancient unspoiled places William R. Leigh marveled at. In Potter of Oraibi, Leigh shows us a young woman–pottery in the pueblos was traditionally the province of women–tending to a pot as it fires in the conical oven. The smoke from the fire and the glow from the oven as it is reflected in the woman’s face suggest the spirit that each piece of pottery possesses. A beautifully rendered and painted jar sits beside the potter, and, at left, the crags of the adobe wall glow in the low light.