Historic Santo Domingo Black-on-cream Small Storage Jar

This jar is larger than standard water jars, consigning it to the category of a small storage jar. It dates to circa 1900, at which time there were three potters who were producing jars of the finest quality, as seen in this jar. The three were in the same family: the Aguilar family, also known as the Caté family—Felipita Aguilar Garcia, Asuncion Aguilar Caté, and Mrs. Ramos Aguilar. Felipita and Asuncion were sisters, and Mrs. Ramos was their sister-in-law. Asuncion and Mrs. Ramos died around 1910, and Felipita died in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

The Denver Art Museum and the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe have significant collections of pottery by these three potters. The Black-on-white designs of six black triangles, as in this jar, were the style of their earlier work, then they created the black, red, and cream designs, for which they are now famous, around 1900. This small storage jar with the black triangle design has the attributes of their quality works from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

The late nineteenth century was a period when potters at Santo Domingo Pueblo were producing pottery of the highest quality. Adolph Bandelier remarked, in 1880, that Santo Domingo residents were storing their grain in very beautiful containers. Additionally, James Stevenson collected exceptional pottery at Santo Domingo, also in 1880. Following the deaths of two of the Aguilars in the 1910s and 1920s, there was less good pottery being made at the pueblo. Eventually, Monica Silva and Santana Melchor emerged as the best potters of the time.

This small storage jar that we have attributed to one of the three Aguilar family potters has a beautiful and commanding shape. The widest part of the body is near the top of the jar, leaving a large surface for the black triangle designs that cover the body. The high shoulder rolls over to a glorious, curved neck on which is a series of resting tulip flower designs. Double framing lines rest on the shoulder and the lower body design. A pair of vertical black lines delineates the ceremonial line break in the design. The rim is black, and a thin polished red line encircles the top of the lower red underbody.

Condition: the interior shows evidence of prior use. The exterior is visibly in excellent condition but there is evidence of some small amount of over paint, but no evidence of cracks or breaks.

Provenance: this Historic Santo Domingo Black-on-cream Small Storage Jar is from the collection of a New Mexico resident

References:

- Chapman, Kenneth M. The Pottery of Santo Domingo Pueblo: A Detailed Study of its Decoration. Memoirs of the Laboratory of Anthropology, Volume 1, Santa Fe. 1936.

- Douglas, Frederick H. Santo Domingo Pottery of the "Aguilar" Type, Clearing House for Southwestern Museums, Denver Art Museum, Newsletter No. 37, June 1941.

- Batkin, Jonathan. Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940. The Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1987.

TAGS: Santo Domingo Pueblo, pottery, Felipita Aguilar Garcia, Asunción Aguilar Caté