Potmaking is an art which has waxed and waned with the fortunes of the cultures which practiced it. Around 1895, a Hopi woman named Nampeyo had seen pots and sherds from the Sikyatki excavation near First Mesa. She took ancient designs and adapted them to her own pots. Thus began the renaissance in Hopi potmaking and a dynasty of potters was founded.

Most Hopi pottery is finished with yellow-orange slip which fires to a warm, golden finish. Designs are polychromatic blacks, reds and whites. Hopis also produce whiteware and polished redware.