Santo Domingo Pueblo Aguilar Jar with Spread Arm Design [SOLD]

This exceptional jar was made by Felipita Aguilar Garcia of Santo Domingo Pueblo (now Kewa Pueblo). The Aguilar sisters have been widely celebrated for creating a variety of innovative pottery styles during the early 1900s. Their later works, which used large geometric designs in bold black and red, were unlike anything that had been produced previously. This particular piece sticks closer to traditional styles, but it does so while clearly displaying multiple Aguilar pottery traits and hinting at the styles that would emerge later.

The jar's shape is its most distinctively Aguilar characteristic. It curves inward dramatically at the shoulder before curving outward again to a flared rim, essentially forming an S shape along the edge of the jar. It is a strong and expressive but undoubtedly elegant form, expanding on the traditional Santo Domingo vessel without abandoning its aesthetics entirely.

Like the vessel itself, the designs walk the line between tradition and innovation. The primary element, which appears three times on the jar's exterior, has been referred to as a "spread-arm" design for reasons that will be obvious to the viewer. A leaf element appears within each pair of spread arms, and rain clouds hang from the bottom of each design. Framing lines appear above and below, eventually curving to form a single pair of vertical lines. Much of this could appear in works by other potters, but the manner in which these particular designs were executed—big, bold, and a bit louder than usual—stands out as the excellent work of Felipita Aguilar Garcia.

According to Jonathan Batkin (see reference) the unpublished notes of Kenneth Chapman recorded that this design was invented by a potter with the surname of Garcia between 1905 and 1910. Most assuredly, he was referring to Felipita Aguilar Garcia, one of two sisters who supplied Mr. Seligman of the Bernalillo Mercantile Co. with pottery of this shape and style for his clients.

Felipita Aguilar Garcia and Asuncion Aguilar Caté (ca.1880 - 1925) were sisters who worked together to create some of the finest Santo Domingo Pueblo pottery. In the early twentieth century, the Aguilar sisters developed innovative and beautiful pottery styles that have become highly collectible in the years since their passing. We are not sure exactly when the Aguilar sisters' careers ended. An unpublished text by Francis Harlow and Dwight Lanmon includes a handful of pieces by the Aguilar sisters, most of which are reported to date to 1910-1915. Chapman (p.152) states that two Black-and-red jars are known to have been made by one potter as late as 1920. He does not state the name of the potter, however. Douglas states that the two sisters passed away around 1915. Batkin (p.99) states that "evidence suggests that Felipita Garcia continued her style as late as 1920 to 1930; she also made traditional polychrome and Black-on-red vessels, all of them beautifully executed."

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Santo Domingo Pueblo Aguilar Jar with Spread Arm Design is from a private collection

References:

Anthony, Alexander E., Jr. Aguilar-Felipita and Asunción, Santo Domingo Pueblo circa 1910-1915. Catalog for the sale of an Aguilar pottery collection, August 15, 2003. Adobe Gallery, Santa Fe

Anthony, Alexander E., Jr. Aguilar-Felipita and Asunción, Santo Domingo Pueblo circa 1905-1914. Catalog for the sale of an Aguilar pottery collection, August 8, 2019. Adobe Gallery, Santa Fe

Batkin, Jonathan. Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940. The Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1987

Chapman, Kenneth M. The Pottery of Santo Domingo Pueblo: A Detailed Study of its Decorations. Memoirs of the Laboratory of Anthropology, Volume I, Santa Fe, 1936.

Douglas, Frederick H. Santo Domingo Pottery of the "Aguilar" Type. Clearing House for Southwestern Museums, Denver Art Museum, Newsletter No. 37, June 1941.

Harlow, Francis H., and Dwight P. Lanmon. Unpublished manuscript. The Pottery of Santo Domingo and Cochiti Pueblos, 2006. Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe.

— Modern Pueblo Pottery Types. Denver Art Museum Leaflets 53-54, February 1933.

TAGS: Asunción Aguilar Caté, Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo), Historic Southwest Indian Pottery, Felipita Aguilar Garcia