Zuni Pueblo Polychrome Geometric Design Jar [SOLD]

Zuni Pueblo potters, with the exception of a few, have never been appreciated for outstanding application of design, unlike their closest neighbors, the Acoma potters.  Zuni clay is more porous than that at Acoma and more difficult to obtain a smooth egg-shell hard surface on which to paint designs.  The slip used does not appear to respond to a hard burnish, leaving a poorer surface on which to paint.  Certainly one pottery matriarch, who remains unknown by name, overcame this difficulty.

There was a jar in the Gallegos Collection which Francis Harlow dated circa 1900, which features the identical designs seen on the jar presented here.

It is basically an accepted fact that potters respect the exclusive use of designs associated with that potter or her family.  If this is true, then we can assume that the potter who made the Gallegos Collection jar in 1900 made this jar ten or fifteen years later.  The vessel shapes are slightly different at the flexure point at the shoulder so perhaps a daughter of the potter made this one or the original potter changed her vessel shapes over time.

The two jars—the Gallegos Collection jar and this jar could not be more similar in design.  Interestingly, and explainable, is the fact that there are no jars in the Smithsonian or American Museum of Natural History or other pre-1890 expedition collections with this design, a good indication that this design developed after 1890.

The design on this jar was the creation of the fertile mind of an outstanding potter, one who precisely laid down each brush stroke with the utmost care.  The fineness of the design could not be better.

As is traditional at Zuni, as well as Acoma, ground up pottery shards were used as temper, resulting in a continuing history of pottery from one pot to another and one generation to another, incorporating a symbolic ingredient for spiritual life of the pottery.

It is generally believed that there was a decline in quality of Pueblo pottery after 1900, but certainly the potter of this jar proved this effort to be the exception.  From an historic Pueblo pottery point of view, it is difficult to believe there could be a finer quality vessel than this.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from New Mexico

Recommended Reading:  The Pottery of Zuni Pueblo by Harlow and Lanmon