Historic Zia Polychrome OLLA by Isabel Medina Toribio [SOLD]

This pottery OLLA, or water jar, was made by Isabel Medina Toribio, one of the most significant Zia Pueblo potters of the twentieth century. Toribio's works are included in many major collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, the School for Advanced Research, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Adobe Gallery has had the pleasure of handling just a few of Toribio's works over the years. Each new arrival has been unique in comparison to those of the past, and each has been a pleasure to study. The particular example, remarkably, manages to stand out as one of the finest among what is truly an outstanding body of work.

Toribio's works are featured prominently in Lanmon and Harlow's The Pottery of Zia Pueblo. The authors write, "Four signed examples of the work of Isabel Medina Toribio are in the SAR and MIAC collections. These jars demonstrate the diversity of Isabel Medina Toribio designs and her dexterity in painting; the designs are often experimental and original, and they are consistently well organized and confidently executed. Some motifs occur repeatedly in her work—such as the clustered feathers with dotted bodies, elaborate tridents inside capped spirals, linked spirals, and rectangular eyes. They form a vocabulary of motifs to use in attributing unsigned examples of her work." [Lanmon & Harlow, 2003: 319-320]

With this jar, Toribio offered a wonderful composition in black and red over cream slip. A single horizontal design band appears, covering much of the exterior. It is split vertically into four quadrants, with identical pairs of compositions appearing on opposite sides. One composition features spiral plant elements curving up from the bottom and the aforementioned capped feather clusters hanging from the top. The other features a triangular element hanging from the top and a row of capped feathers rising from the bottom. Both compositions feel thoughtful in their well-executed symmetry, and together they create a powerful visual impression.

Isabel Medina Toribio's earliest surviving documented jar that has been found was collected in 1922. It was a gift to the Smithsonian Institution from Marjorie Merriweather Post. It is inscribed on the side of the base, "Isabelela Toribio," and may be one of the two earliest surviving pieces of pottery bearing the name of any potter from Zia. [ibid: 318]

The square mustard color eye within the feather elements "may be a signature for Trinidad Medina and Isabel Toribio. The feature is a holdover from the abundant use of rectangular eyes on Zia pottery of the early 1800s." [ibid: 320] The abundant capped feathers on this jar are related to Puname Polychrome designs, but the embellishment of rows of tiny black dots is an innovation found on jars by Isabel Medina Torivio. [ibid: 321]

Isabel Medina Toribio (ca.1882-1940) Aitiyé was a Zia Pueblo potter who was active during the 1920s and 1930s. Isabel was the daughter of Jesus (or Juan de Dios) Medina and Isadora Lobato Medina. She married Alejandro Toribio, eldest son of Rosalia Medina Toribio, about 1904. They had one child: Maria (or Marina) Gothlota. Isabel Medina Toribio may have learned potting from her mother-in-law, Rosalia Medina Toribio, or from her mother, Isidora Lobato Medina. She is known for having created excellent works with distinctive designs.

Condition: excellent condition with no restoration or repair

Provenance: this Historic Zia Polychrome OLLA by Isabel Medina Toribio is from a private collection

Reference and Recommended Reading: The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Harlow and Lanmon

TAGS: James Stevenson, Zia Pueblo, Pueblo Pottery, Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Historic Pottery, Isabel Medina Toribio