Ohkay Owingeh Red-on-Tan Serving Bowl [SOLD]

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo has a long history of producing plainware pottery of the most striking beauty. There are several vessel shapes and styles that are traditional to the potters of the pueblo. Large storage jars are globular in shape and traditionally slipped with red clay on the upper half and with no slip on the lower half. Large dough bowls are generally slipped in the same manner, with red slip on the upper half and without slip on the lower.

Serving bowls tend to be of two styles.  Both styles feature concave rims that flare out at the top.  Some of these have red slip applied to the top few inches on the exterior of the rim and others on the interior of the rim.  Those with red slip on the interior, such as this bowl, generally have a rim that flares outward slightly more than the rim of one decorated on the exterior.  The rim on this bowl is scalloped on its edges. The interior of the bowl is without slip and has a stone-polished finish.  The bottom of the bowl is flat.

This bowl is very traditional to the style made at Ohkay Owingeh since the early 19th century and perhaps even earlier.  Written in ink on the underside are the following:  IWRV VHV 8-64.  It is presumed that these are the initials of the owner and possibly the date the bowl was made in August 1964.  It appears that the bowl has been used in the past.

Condition: this Ohkay Owingeh Red-on-tan Serving Bowl is in very good condition with a few minor chips on the edge of the rim.

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio

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