Pair of Pottery Candle Holders from Zuni Pueblo [SOLD]

Pottery making at Zuni Pueblo came to a near end by 1930.  Commercially manufactured china and metalware were in use in most households, negating the need to make pottery for household use.  What little pottery was being made was by older women who continued following traditions taught them by their mothers. What they produced, however, was for the tourist market.  The younger women were not being taught the processes for making pottery as they preferred wage-paying jobs.

Candle holders were among the finer tourist items made by Zuni potters.  They were useful in addition to being decorative and a remembrance of a trip.  Handles often were animal forms, such as frogs. Other traditional Zuni designs were added for emphasis.  This candle holder pair has a polka dotted frog as handles and heart-line deer and long-tailed birds of the style placed on traditional jars and bowls.  

Candle holders were certainly made to be sold as Zuni Pueblo had electricity by the early 20th century with no need for candle light.  Some ethnologists were aghast at potters making tourist items but it must be stressed that had they not continued making such items, pottery making at the pueblo would certainly be a lost art today.  It was the potters who made such items who should be praised for keeping the tradition alive.

This is a particularly well made pair of candle holders and an excellent item to represent the 1930s decade of pottery production at Zuni Pueblo.

Condition: this Pair of Pottery Candle Holders from Zuni Pueblo is in excellent condition

Provenance: from the extensive collection of a Colorado resident

Reference: The Pottery of Zuni Pueblo by Dwight P. Lanmon and Francis H. Harlow