Zia Pueblo Large Polychrome Pottery Storage Jar by Ascensiona Aguilar Pino [SOLD]

This large storage jar is attributed to Ascensiona (Aguilar) Pino.  The attribution is made based on design elements on the jar that are identical to a published jar in the Philbrook Museum of Art which was gifted by Clark Field in 1942, that had been purchased from Ascensiona in 1939.  The specific design elements are the stacked orange triangular tipped feathers, back-to-back, divided by parallel black lines, each stack tipped with a black outlined triangle.  (Harlow & Lanmon 2003:294)

Ascensiona (Aguilar) Pino (ca. 1893-95 - 1963) was a daughter of Reyes Galvan (ca. 1860-61 - 1934) and Mariano Aguilar (1862-1895).  She married José Pino (1891-1976) in 1913. They had nine children. Attributions made to a specific potter based on comparisons with documented jars is an accepted practice, however, it cannot be considered a factual statement as it represents a best-guess scenario.

The design concept is one that separates the design into four quadrants—a panel with a Zia bird under a double rainbow; an adjoining panel with stacked orange tipped feathers; another panel with a Zia bird; and an adjoining panel with orange tipped feathers.  Each Zia bird is orange with three tail feathers, a wide single wing, a pair of black feathers on the head, a round eye with a black dot, and a long black beak partially opened. Joining the bird, under a double rainbow are three sets of triple-tipped feathers, orange with black tips.  The bird stands on the lower framing line. The adjoining design panel, also enclosed with double rainbow arches, contains the orange tipped feathers back-to-back described above and by which the attribution was made. Both of these design panels are repeated once.

The rim of the jar is black, the interior neck is red, and there is a red band just below the lower framing line.  Below the red band, the slip is red and stone polished. The bottom of the jar is flat in true fashion for storage jars.  The jar is not signed and is estimated to date to the 1930s.

Condition: this Zia Pueblo Large Polychrome Pottery Storage Jar by Aguilar Pino is in very good condition with minor surface abrasions

Provenance: from the extensive collection of Zia pottery of a Colorado resident

Reference: Harlow, Francis H. and Dwight P. Lanmon. The Pottery of Zia Pueblo

Relative Links: Reyes Galvan, Southwest Indian Pottery, Zia Pueblo, Historic Pottery, Ascensiona (Aguilar) Pino