San Ildefonso Pueblo Polychrome Rectangular Pottery Box [SOLD]

There is very little published information about the function or use of these rectangular pottery boxes. For sure, they were made long before pottery was being made to sell to non-Indians, so I do not believe that they were made as collectible boxes for tourists. The only instance when I have ever witnessed one in use was at the home of Helen and Fred Cordero of Cochiti Pueblo.

I went to the Cordero home very early one morning because I wanted Fred’s opinion concerning a jar I had recently acquired and which appeared to have been used as a pottery drum. I had to be back in Albuquerque early enough to open the gallery that day, so I struck out early to see him.

I arrived at the Cordero home just at sunrise. As I pulled the car up next to their house, I saw Fred standing at the doorway, with the screen door open, and he held a pottery box in his hand from which he was tossing cornmeal in the air toward the rising sun. I believe this to be a ritual performed at a thousand or more pueblo homes every morning.

I don’t believe a lot of these were made for sale to tourists in the 1920s-1930s. A statement made by Ruth Bunzel in 1929 will help to clarify:

“Prices are conditioned by quality of craftsmanship and the fame of the maker….a small bowl of decorated black ware by Maria Martinez brings from three to six dollars. Large and unusual pieces, such as prayer bowls, vases, bring up to twelve dollars.”

Because they were doubled in price above the average bowl, I don’t expect the demand was great; therefore the supply would not have been great.

The workmanship in creating this box was exceptional. There were only a few potters at San Ildefonso producing such quality in the 1920s-1930s. There were few painters of pottery who painted so precisely. The sense of design works so well with the shape of the surface being decorated. It was a true artist who painted this vessel.

Condition: The vessel is in excellent structural condition. There is some exfoliation of the slip on only two sides and that is of minor consequence. There is a very small chip at the base of one corner, also of minor consequence.

Provenance: ex. coll. Phoenix, AZ collector