Historic Laguna Pueblo Olla with Zuni Pueblo Heartline Deer [SOLD]

Refugees from Acoma, Zuni and other pueblos established Laguna Pueblo a few years after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Its date of establishment was 1699. As a result, its pottery can be very similar to that of Acoma and Zuni Pueblos, and, for the most part, is indistinguishable from ceramics at Acoma, but not so much from that at Zuni except for similarity in design elements. Acoma and Laguna clay are similar but Zuni clay differs from that at those two pueblos.  Sometimes designs must be used as a guideline for distinguishing ceramics at Laguna.

There was a Laguna potter, Arroh-ah-och, in the late 1800s, who was one of the last of the men/women potters of Laguna.  He had visited Zuni and was so impressed with the pottery by those potters, that he introduced the deer and other Zuni designs into his pottery.  Two such pottery vessels have been definitely identified as the work of Arroh-ah-och. - Batkin 1987:149

Other Laguna vessels, with similar Zuni designs, have been identified, however, they differ in design style from  those by Arroh-ah-och. This circa 1890s Laguna jar has heartline deer that are not as bold as those by Arroh-ah-och but are more delicate.  It is quite likely that a potter at Laguna, contemporary of Arroh-ah-och, was equally impressed with Zuni designs and chose to emulate both the Zuni potters and the work of this man/woman potter at Laguna.

The geometric designs on this jar are very much related to traditional Laguna patterns.  The checkerboard pattern at the shoulder divides the neck design from the body designs. The design on the body is suspended from the checkerboard element and consists of bold lines in alternating up and down steps, some of which have semicircle clouds elements.

The design on the neck, in addition to the Zuni heartline deer, has rain clouds with lines of rain just below the rim.  The designs were executed in a rich dark brown pigment. The underbody is traditionally orange in color. The base is concave, the rim is brown, and the interior of the neck is slipped in orange.

This jar is a rare example of a Laguna jar with Zuni influence.  It is rich in color, with the dark brown standing out strongly on the cream slip.  Execution of designs was very precise.

A client wrote in to ask how I identified this piece as Laguna.  While I cannot say with certainty, I strongly believe it to be for the reasons outlined below.

As most Pueblo pottery collectors are aware, there is no absolute way to determine if a jar was made at Acoma or Laguna.  This has been a puzzle for the last hundred years and I do not mean to be the one to settle the dispute, only to express my own opinion as I see it.

Some of the design elements that swayed my opinion are the following:

1. The checkerboard design on the shoulder appears to have been a design favored by Laguna potters, c.1900. (See Dillingham, Figure 1.6, below)

2. The pyramidal design, shown in upright and inverted positions on our jar, appears often on Laguna documented jars. (See Dillingham, Figure 1.6 and 1.7)

3. As stated to Dillingham by a Laguna potter, “Laguna designs are less busy” (Dillingham, page 112)

4. Dillingham states that an open chain-like patterning is typical of Laguna wares. In my opinion, the design on this jar is (1) less busy, and (2) is chain-like

5. Zuni designs began being replicated at Laguna from roughly 1890 to 1915 and Zuni slips were also used. (Dillingham, p.138)

According to Ruth Bunzel “We have already noted the tendency of Acoma designs to fill without break the whole of the decorative field, completely eliminating the background.” (Bunzel 1929:35)

There are several examples in the Gallegos Collection (Harlow 1990) that back up the Dillingham descriptions of chain-like designs, tan-colored slip, stone polishing marks, and dark gray rock in the grainy clay. (Plates 32-35)

This jar has a more tan-colored slip than the really white slip seen on Acoma jars.  It also has evidence of stone polishing marks, seen more often on Laguna than Acoma. The interior clay color is closer to that of Zuni than Acoma, an indication of gray rock in the clay rather than potsherds used at Acoma for temper.  You might wonder if the jar is Zuni, rather than Laguna, however, the clay is definitely not of Zuni source.

The Zuni heartline deer on this jar are closely associated with the style by Arroh-ah-och (1830-1890) than the style favored and used by all Acoma potters.  It is an indication to me that the deer on this jar was heavily influenced by the work of Arroh-ah-och. Take note of the long snout of the deer and the diamond-shaped eyes, elements seen on the deer by Arroh-ah-och.  In my opinion, this jar was made by a relative of Arroh-ah-och or an admirer of him.  The similarity of the deer to his work is too definitive to have been created by an Acoma potter, in deference to the style of Zuni deer seen on Acoma wares.  If I am correct that a relative or admirer of Arroh-ah-och painted this jar, then it would have been most likely in the early 20th century, shortly after he passed away in 1890, while still being remembered.

Condition: this Historic Laguna Pueblo Olla with Zuni Pueblo Heartline Deer is in very good condition.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Colorado

Reference:

- Batkin, Jonathan. Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940, 1987

- Dillingham, Rick. Acoma & Laguna Pottery, School of American Research, Santa Fe. 1992

- Harlow, Francis H. Two Hundred Years of Historic Pueblo Pottery: The Gallegos Collection, Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe,1990 

- Bunzel, Ruth L. The Pueblo Potter - A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art, Columbia University Press, New York, 1929