Red Over Tan Ohkay Owingeh [San Juan Pueblo] Bowl [SOLD]

This is a very traditional Ohkay Owingeh [formerly San Juan Pueblo] Red-on-tan bowl dating to the late 1800s to early 1900s. The upper part of the vessel is slipped in red clay from the pueblo and then stone-polished to a high luster. It is a beautiful deep dark red of the color seen in pre-1900 vessels. The underbody is the natural, un-slipped, tan clay of the full vessel that was stone polished without the addition of slip. The natural un-slipped interior of the bowl was stone polished as well. The shape of the bowl is very pleasing. It flares out from the bottom to form a globular body that gracefully curves inward before rising to a short neck that has a gentle concave shape. There are beautiful fire clouds on the tan underbody that add tremendously to the beauty of the vessel.

This is one of the nicest Ohkay Owingeh bowls we have had in the gallery in a decade. It is not as large as some we have had but neither is it as small as some. It is an intermediate size and, therefore, more impressive because the fire clouds are more dense on the smaller surface.

According to Batkin^¹, pottery making at Ohkay Owingeh almost died out by 1900 except for an occasional piece made for household use or for sale or trade. There was a revival in the 1930s but it was of a different style. It is difficult to find pieces of this size from this time period.

^¹Recommended Reading: Pottery of The Pueblos of New Mexico: 1700-1940, (click here to view details of book) by Jonathan Batkin. (This book is out-of-print and may be available from Adobe Gallery)