Very Well Used Chile Stew Bowl [SOLD]

Pottery making is a family affair and a cottage industry.  The pueblo potter who grew up in a household where pottery was generally made at the kitchen table shared the experience with family members.  Gathering clay, working the clay to remove impurities and achieve a harmonious consistency, coiling the walls of the vessel, smoothing, polishing and painting the surface and firing the finished products are family experiences. 

The intrusion of the white culture into the lives of the pueblo culture necessitated that the Indians adopt the cash society of the new culture.  To do so, they easily transformed their at-home pottery production to one in which they could continue such production and convert that energy to cash.  This was a positive event for the pueblo families and an equally positive event for those who appreciate the beauty and wish to collect pueblo pottery.

Many collectors enjoy adding pottery to their collection if it evidences ethnographic use, that is they want an item that was actually used at the pueblo before being sold to an outsider.  Many historic jars and dough bowls were used at the pueblo before leaving for the consumer market, but very little contemporary pottery falls into that category.  The exception is small serving bowls.  Many chile bowls that were used extensively or minimally at the pueblo from the last half of the 20^thcentury eventually appear on the commercial market.  Perhaps that is because replacing a small bowl for pueblo use is easier that replacing a water jar or dough bowl or perhaps it is because such small bowls are more affordable.

This small chile bowl is a good example of one that was used extensively at a pueblo table and at communal events.  It has the initials E.T.C. painted on the underside in red paint.  Those are the initials of the owner of the bowl and not necessarily the maker of the bowl.  Initials like those are put on bowls that are going to be used for serving food at communal cerebrations.  The purpose is to insure the return of the bowl following the event.

This bowl has a continuous circular design of repeated cloud and rain symbols pendant from an upper framing line and wave-like elements resting on a lower framing line.  The rim is painted black and a ceremonial line break penetrates the rim paint and downward through the bowl design panel.  The underside is painted with red clay that has been stone polished.  The interior is the natural and undecorated yellow color.  The interior patina attests to use of the bowl for liquid food.

Condition: very good condition

Recommended Reading:  A River Apart: The Pottery of Cochiti & Santo Domingo Pueblos, edited by Valerie K. Verzuh

Provenance: from the extensive collection of a Santa Fe resident who is unfortunately moving to another city and found it necessary to greatly reduce her collection.