Magnificent Large San Ildefonso Polychrome Jar [SOLD]

Long before Black-on-black pottery became the staple at San Ildefonso Pueblo, potters there had produced a variety of pottery types— Black-on-cream, Black-on-Red and Polychrome types predominately.  Powhoge Polychrome, which was black-on-cream, in the 1850-1880 period gave way to San Ildefonso Polychrome, starting in the 1890s, in which red paint was added to the design.  Concurrently, some potters began abandoning the red paint on the rim in favor of black around the same time.

This jar is globular in shape, similar to Powhoge Polychrome, with the addition of a rolled out rim, a shape seen in early San Ildefonso Polychrome.  The cream slip is stone polished, the slip used before potters changed to Cochiti slip around 1905.  The black vegetal paint and the red paint used in the design of this jar are very strong and bold.  The deep red paint seen in San Ildefonso pottery is the same paint used by the men for body decoration.  The lighter red, almost orange, seen on later pottery is from another clay source.  It is estimated that this jar dates to circa 1890 or maybe a decade earlier.

There is no attempt to guess who might have made the jar or who might have painted it but it is obvious that only the best potter and best painter of the time did so.  The jar is truly magnificent in construction and design.

Condition: very good condition

Recommended Reading:  Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin. This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Provenance: from a source in Santa Fe