Taos Pueblo Very Large Cooking Pot [SOLD]

Taos Pueblo, along with Picuris, Sandia and Isleta Pueblos, is a Tiwa-speaking group.  Taos and Picuris potters produce micaceous pottery that is basically indistinguishable from each other.  The early collectors of pottery in the 1880s observed that very little pottery was being produced at Taos and that most of their utilitarian wares were imported from San Juan Pueblo.  There are some potters today who are making pottery at Taos Pueblo.

This very large cooking pot is traditionally Taos by origin and definitely not of the style from San Juan Pueblo.  It was made from traditional micaceous clay which does not required the addition of a tempering agent as the mica serves that purpose.

The rim of the jar is fluted, a technique that adds strength to the rim, generally the most vulnerable section of a vessel.  The pot has definitely been used for cooking.

Condition: very good condition with no discernable damage

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Santa Fe 

Recommended Reading: Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin