Very Large Polychrome Pictorial Storage Jar [SOLD]

Pojoaque Pueblo, pronounced Po-wock-ee or Po-hock-ee, is one of the northern Tewa speaking pueblos.  It dates to prehistoric times, was occupied when the Spaniards arrived, destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, resettled by 5 families in 1706, abandoned again after the smallpox epidemic in 1900, resettled again by 14 families in 1934 and became a Government recognized reservation in 1936.  The Gutierrez family was one of the 14 families who settled in the pueblo in 1934.  Lois Gutierrez is a descendant of that family, with roots from Santa Clara Pueblo.

Lois Gutierrez married Derek de la Cruz.  She comes from a family of talented potters—her mother, Petra, and her sisters, Goldenrod, Thelma Talachy, Lupita Gutierrez and Minnie Vigil all are recognized artisans.  Lois and her husband work independently producing beautiful polychrome jars decorated in a multitude of design elements.  They each make their own pottery and fire jointly. This is the largest of the jars I have seen from either of them.  It is a pictorial design showing the Pueblo Butterfly Dance encircling the entire vessel body.  There are two Avanyu (water serpents) encircling the neck.  This one is signed LOIS.

Not only is this the largest storage jar from the artist, it is one of the most beautifully decorated one.  Lois has painted the occasion of the Butterfly Dance.  Each of the 14 dancers pictured is beautifully rendered in the finest detail.  This is a magnificent jar and deserves a place of honor in any collection of contemporary pottery.

Condition:  new condition

Provenance: from the artist through an intermediary

Recommended Reading:  Pueblo Indian Pottery 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf