Isleta Pueblo Pottery Polychrome Serving Bowl [SOLD]

When bowls are to be used for serving food at community events, such as taking food to the plaza, it is customary for the owner of the bowl to put his or her initials or name on the bowl to ensure that it is returned after the feast.  This bowl has Frank Abeita prominently printed in red marker on the underside, along with the initials FHA in black marker.  On the side of the bowl are the initials JP. 

The initials JP stand for Juan Pablo, the original owner of the bowl and who was the grandfather of Frank Abeita. Juan Pablo was the Isleta Pueblo man who was responsible for naming the historic Kimo Theater in Albuquerque back in the 1920s.  The most recent owner is the granddaughter of Frank Abeita.  This bowl has some history associated with it.

Prior to 1880, potters at Isleta Pueblo made plain red pottery that was devoid of design or decoration.  The poor quality red 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 red purity and simplicity.

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 with 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.  It is the style seen on this serving bowl which quite possibly dates to as early as 1920s.

Condition; very good condition with a couple of minor interior rim chips.

Provenance: from the great-great-granddaughter of the original owner, Juan Pablo, of Isleta Pueblo

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