Isleta Pueblo Polychrome Historic Pottery Bowl [SOLD]

This historic serving bowl is typical of Isleta Pueblo Polychrome pottery from 1880 to the present.  It has an appearance similar to that from Acoma and Laguna Pueblos for good reason—the style was influenced by potters from Laguna as early as 1880.  The bowl was covered in a creamy white slip from top to bottom in the manner of Acoma and Laguna.  A design of dark brown pigment and deep orange slip was applied in a band encircling the bowl’s interior and exterior surfaces.  The interior design is floral in style, while the exterior is rain clouds.  This style of pottery is different from that which was traditional at Isleta before 1880.

Nineteenth century pottery at Isleta was an undecorated orange color clay with nothing more than a red band added near the exterior rim.  The poor quality of clay at Isleta was not suitable for making high-quality thin-walled pottery.  Pottery from Isleta of that time is not in large quantity in any museum collection because it was not considered worthy of such.  When one looks at it today, however, it is amazingly beautiful in its color purity and simplicity.

The change occurred when a large group of Laguna Pueblo Indians permanently moved and set up a village near Isleta in 1879 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, but 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.  It is the style seen on this serving bowl which quite possibly dates to as early as 1920s.  This bowl quite likely was sold at the Fred Harvey Albuquerque Alvarado Hotel adjacent to the train station.  

Potters at Isleta eventually abandoned their traditional pottery style and adapted the changes introduced by the women from Laguna.  This may be seen as a negative or a positive event in that a tradition of Isleta was lost but pottery that was saleable was gained.  Today, the golden color older style Isleta pottery is rare and very collectible, but the Laguna style that was introduced is now the tradition at Isleta.  One tradition from the Isleta pottery that was retained was the added band of red at the rim.

Condition: very good condition with minor paint abrasions, and one rim chip that has been put back in place

Provenance: this Isleta Pueblo Polychrome Historic Pottery Bowl was previously sold by Adobe Gallery in 2002 and we now have it back to sell again.

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

Relative Links: Isleta Pueblo, Tue-I, Historic Pottery