Zia Pueblo Polychrome Pottery Jar with Four Birds by Juana Lupita Toribio Pino [SOLD]

Award-winning Zia Pueblo artist Juana Lupita Toribio Pino was recognized early for her skill at making pottery.  The birds on this jar are of two styles, which is a traditional trait of this potter. There are four birds, two of each style. All four have round dark eyes. Two of the birds are executed in orange/red slip outlined in brown, and two are executed totally in brown pigment. The two orange/red birds have rounded head feathers and the brown birds have no head feathers. The tail feathers of the orange/red birds end abruptly in squared-off fashion. The brown birds have delicate feathers with rounded ends.

This potter has been identified as Juana, Juanita, and Juanito over the years. The potter signed this jar Juanita Pino, so we will use that name. According to Harlow and Lanmon, Pino (ca.1890-1987) was recognized as an outstanding potter as early as 1922 at the first Southwest Indian Fair in Santa Fe. She continued winning prizes at subsequent events in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Gallup. She was the mother of Sofia Medina.

The cream slip of this jar features a warm polished surface and patina that would suggest an age of 50 to 60 years. The orange/red rainbow bands are highly polished, as are the orange/red birds.

There is some very minor crazing of the cream slip but it is of no significance.  The jar is signed with the name Juanita Pino Zia.

Condition: this Zia Pueblo Polychrome Pottery Jar with Four Birds by Juana Lupita Toribio Pino is in very good condition

Provenance: originally from the collection of a gentleman from Colorado, now from the collection of the client to whom we previously sold it.

Recommended Reading: Harlow, Francis H. and Dwight P. Lanmon. The Pottery of Zia Pueblo, SAR Press, 2003

Relative Links: Zia Pueblo, Rosalia Medina Toribio, Southwest Indian Pottery, Contemporary Pottery, Juana Lupita Toribio Pino