Pair Hopi-Tewa Polychrome Cylindrical Jars [SOLD]

The history of Hopi cylindrical jars is somewhat cloudy. They obviously had no functional use for the Hopi, so they must have been made solely to sell to visitors to the Hopi mesas. Whether it was Thomas Pavatea, who ran a trading post at First Mesa, or Thomas Keams, who ran a trading post at Keams’ Canyon, is unimportant, but it surely was one of them who suggested to the potters to make these “Anglo-recognizable” shapes as curio items for the tourists. Today, this shape is almost singly associated with Hopi potters.

Recent studies of excavated prehistoric sites at Chaco Canyon have revealed specimens of cylindrical jars. Anthropologist Patricia Crown, from the University of New Mexico, and a colleague from the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, analyzed potsherds and found traces of a compound of cacao. From their research, they have concluded that the cylindrical jars were used to hold chocolate in beverage form. Only a couple hundred complete jars have been found and most of them came from Pueblo Bonito, but many shards that would fit a cylindrical jar shape have been unearthed.

Based on their research, there is a history for pueblo cylindrical jars, but it is still likely that the re-introduction of them at Hopi was not for drinking chocolate beverages but for selling to collectors and tourists.

This pair of cylindrical jars is closely matched in size and design as one could expect to be done. They are both in excellent condition.

Provenance: From a private California collection.