Large Tonque Pueblo Polychrome Prehistoric Pottery OLLA [SOLD]

This large OLLA or water jar, which most likely dates to the 1300s, is a fine example of Tonque’s glazeware pottery.  Its shape is unusual and appealing—when viewed from the side, it looks like a cross between a Hopi seed jar and a Pueblo water jar—and its colors are excellent.  The orange-brown slip is soft but strong. The black glaze, bold and somewhat reflective, frames two wide red lines which circle most of the vessel, leaving ceremonial breaks and crossing the open expanse of the orange slip.  Three prehistoric bird designs, similar to those used on Sikyatki pottery, decorate the jar. There are two floating design areas made of rectangles within larger rectangles. Some of these rectangular shapes are bisected diagonally, some are decorated with crosses and dots.  Designs that appear very similar to the Kiva steps used frequently in later pueblo works protrude from the sides of each of the larger rectangles.. The underbody is red, matching the lines used on the top half. Interestingly, the piece was excavated by archaeologists from the private grounds of the aforementioned brick factory at Tonque.  We are excited to be able to present a rare, exceptional, legally obtained piece of prehistoric Native American art.

Tonque Pueblo was located on the Arroyo Tonque, east of what is now Bernalillo, New Mexico.  Like many of the prehistoric pueblos, very little information is available about its existence.  Details can be found in various historical documents, but these details are often speculative or do not match those of other early historical reports.  Much of what is known today comes from the site itself and whatever artworks remain. Because the village was never mentioned by name in early Spanish chronicles, it is generally assumed that it had been abandoned before their arrival. Historians offer varying suggestions about which language group Tonque fit into and when and why its residents vacated the pueblo.  What is known with certainty about Tonque is that it was home to large deposits of high-quality clay. The clay was of such exceptional quality that eventually, in the early twentieth century, a brick factory would be constructed at Tonque. 

Tonque was a large pueblo, and its people produced a considerable amount of high-quality pottery.  According to a 1969 El Palacio article by Helene Warren, Tonque’s pottery production was most likely as significant as that of any other pueblo of its period: “During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the skilled potters of Tonque Pueblo supplied well over half and sometimes nearly all of the glaze decorated pottery used in contemporary villages.”  Tonque pottery made its way to many neighboring villages as well as more distant locations like Zuni, and was traded to Plains Indians in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. The proliferation of Tonque pottery, Warren writes, was due in large part to its exceptionally high quality: “The Tonque wares are distinguished for their excellence of craftsmanship, design, and color. The cream to light orange clay and rich pastel surface colors and crystal tuff tempering material make it possible to recognize these wares wherever they are found.”

The Tonque potters located lead minerals in the general vicinity of Cerrillos, about fifteen miles south of Santa Fe.  This heavily mineralized zone probably was known earlier, since it was also a source of hematite and limonite pigments, as well as turquoise. (Peckham 1990:86)

Condition: The Large Tonque Pueblo Polychrome Prehistoric Pottery OLLA was broken and reassembled very skillfully.  When examined under a blacklight, repair materials are visible, just slightly, on the inside.  There is a minor rim chip. For a piece of its age, its condition is excellent.

Provenance: The piece was excavated on the private property of the Tonque Brick Company by Richard and Kitty Renwick of the New Mexico Archaeology Club.  It was then sold to a private collector, who passed it on to its current owner.

Recommended Reading: “Tonque: One Pueblo’s Glaze Pottery Dominated Middle Rio Grande Commerce by Helene Warren”, El Palacio Summer 1969

Reference: From This Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery by Stewart Peckham

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Pottery, Tonque Pueblo, Prehistoric Pottery