Acoma Pueblo Black-on-white Jar with Turtles [R]

Acoma Pueblo clay, after around the 1960s, is known to have impurities embedded within and sometimes the impurities can be sifted out and other times the smallest amount remains and is incorporated into the clay vessel.  That appears to be the situation with this jar.  The surface of the vessel is rough to the touch as if there was sand embedded into the clay.  A possibility also is that the old pottery shards that were ground up for use as temper in the new pot were not ground sufficiently fine resulting in the lack of smoothness in the clay.

Juana Leno, being one of the finest of the 20^th century potters at Acoma would normally have been aware of this and would have ground up the pot and started over making another one, however, it is possible that this occurred after firing and was not noticeable before then.  At any rate, the jar is just fine and the surface roughness is no detriment to the beauty of the vessel. 

The body design consists of three large turtles separated by fine-line triangles outlined in heavy black paint.  Each turtle features a checkerboard shell design within a black stepped design accented with fine-line corners.

Condition: the jar is in structurally excellent condition

Provenance: from a gentleman in Albuquerque

Recommended Reading:  Acoma and Laguna Pottery by Rick Dillingham