Isleta Pueblo Four Color Polychrome Water Jar, circa 1900 [SOLD]

In 1880, a large group of Laguna Pueblo Indians permanently moved and set up a village near Isleta which they named Oraibi.  The massive move was a result of a dispute within Laguna.  The Laguna women were makers of polychrome pottery and they took the techniques and designs with them.  Not only were the designs and colors attractive to potters at Isleta, the Laguna potters knew how to use proper temper to achieve strong and thin walls.  Eventually, the Laguna style became the Isleta style and Laguna designs still appear today on pottery from Isleta.

It was this new style of pottery that Isleta women hauled to the train station in Albuquerque every day to sell to tourists traveling the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (AT&SF) Rail Line from Chicago to California and return.  Popular with the train travelers were salt and pepper shakers, candlesticks, small dishes, small bowls with twisted handles and other small items not traditional to Isleta homes.

Large water jars and functional bowls were made for use at the pueblo.  This water jar is typical of the size that was made for pueblo use although such jars did find their way to the train station and into the laps of the train travelers.  The potter of this jar took special care to paint an extraordinary design consisting of large amounts of fine lines, orange bars around the rim and red flowers inside a “Rain Bird” element.  This is an amazingly beautiful example of the finest work from Isleta Pueblo at the turn of the last century.

Condition: very good condition

Recommended Reading:  Pueblo Pottery of the New Mexico Indians: Ever Constant, Ever Changing by Betty Toulouse

Provenance: from an Adobe Gallery client from New York