Tesuque Pueblo Rare Highly Decorated Large Bowl, circa 1880 [R]

Occasionally one sees a piece of pueblo pottery which is above and beyond what one expects. That is the case with this bowl. Constructed of native clay mixed with native temper, coil formed in the traditional pueblo technique, and fired in an outdoor firing are all traditional traits one would expect. That is where the ordinary ends, and the unusual begins.

This is probably the rarest Tesuque bowl one could expect to see. It is profusely decorated on its interior and exterior to the point where one must study it seriously to absorb all the designs. There are cloud and lightning elements that are rarely used on secular vessels but mostly reserved for ceremonial ones. There are cornstalk motifs, parallel framing lines with diagonal hatching lines (only used by Tesuque), wavy lines between tower-like elements (also only used by Tesuque), a turkey on the exterior bottom and X elements representing turkey tracks, stars on the interior, and many other symbols which appear to represent the spirit of the pueblo world.

Condition: very good condition with wear on the underside

Provenance:  ex. collection of Mr. & Mrs. Larry Frank for over 50 years.  We acquired this bowl in 2002 from their collection and sold it at our exhibit of Tesuque pottery that year.  The owner has now decided that we may sell it again.  It is truly an amazing rare item of pueblo pottery from the 1880s.

Recommended Reading:   Published in Historic Pottery of the Pueblo Indians 1600-1880 by Larry Frank and Francis Harlow. 1974. New York Graphic Society, p. 67.