Haak’u Polychrome Pot with Intricate Hunt Scene [SOLD]

This polychrome pottery pot was made by Barbara and Joseph Cerno of Acoma Pueblo, Haak'u (Sky City). While they occasionally work on their own, the married couple usually works in collaboration, with Joseph making the vessels and Barbara painting the designs. With this piece, both artists contributed something special.

Patience is a crucial part of the Cernos' practice—they are known to age their clay for over six months and allow larger pieces to dry for over three months before firing. Their methodical nature of their work is evident in this large, impressive piece, which forgoes the typical wide rim. Instead, its shoulder curves inward and continues to form a nearly flat top, with just a small hole at the top. Some might see it as a dramatically enlarged variation of the small sgraffito-style seed pots produced at Santa Clara Pueblo.

The pot's atypical shape allowed ample space for design. The Cernos often use modern updates of ancestral designs in their works. Here, they do so beautifully, offering a lively and intricate hunt scene in which human figures wield various implements as they pursue a wide variety of animals. They're arranged beautifully all over the pot, with complex patterns of traditional Acoma pottery designs curving between the groups of figures. This is an exceptional example of modern Acoma Pueblo pottery.

The bottom of the pot is signed B J Cerno, Acoma New Mexico and dated 7-82.

Barbara Hayah Cerno (b.1951) and Merle Joseph Martin Cerno (b.1947) are a husband-and-wife pottery-making team. Their pots are made from traditional materials, hand-coiled and fired outdoors. Barbara and Joe Cerno sign their pottery "B. J. Cerno." There is now Joseph Cerno, Jr. who is following in the footsteps of his parents. Barbara's mother, Esther Gunn Hayah, was of Acoma Pueblo and Barbara's father, William David Hayah, was of the Hopi village of Polacca. Barbara and Joseph both learned pottery making from his Acoma Pueblo mother, Santana Cimmeron Cerno. They have received many notable awards and accolades for their work, including multiple first prize awards at Santa Fe Indian Market.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Haak'u Polychrome Pot with Intricate Hunt Scene is from a private collection

Reference: Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2,000 Artist Biographies, Gregory Schaaf

TAGS: Joseph Cerno, Jr., Acoma Pueblo, Hopi Pueblo, pottery, Marie Cimmeron, Barbara and Joe Cerno, Sr.