Adobe Gallery Blog

This is one of the most strikingly beautiful Laguna Pueblo canteens we have acquired in over a decade.  Not only does it have a bulbous front, it has a bulbous back as well.  The vessel sits on its base so that the design is easily visible. 

The canteen was slipped in creamy white clay, polished to a smooth finish and that then became the canvas on which the artist began to execute her design. A circle outlined with a pair of thin black framing lines set the stage for the main body design which was then divided into a pair of semicircles split by a rectangular bar.  The bar was divided by a single black line down its middle from which black triangles are pendant and their directions are alternate.  The triangles were then filled with fine black lines.

The semicircles on the body were each designed with a stepped element inside which is a triangle formed with four black lines intersecting at an apex.  The area between the stepped elements was filled in with red. A wide band encircles the main body design and it contains a chain of triangles, some of which are filled in with red and alternating ones filled in with fine lines.

The back of the canteen is designed with a solid red center bordered by triangles of fine line elements that alternate directions.  The neck repeats such triangles, all of which are pendant from a framing line.  The rim is painted black, the interior of the rim painted red and alternating black and red dots adhere to the handles.  The canteen dates to the first quarter of the 20^th century, probably circa 1920.

Condition: structurally in excellent condition with excellent condition of the painted design.

Provenance: from an elderly lady in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: Acoma and Laguna Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Subject: Laguna Pueblo Exquisite Pottery Polychrome Canteen
Unknown Maker
Category: Historic
Origin: Laguna Pueblo
Medium: clay, pigment
Size: 6" tall x 6-3/4" wide x 4-1/2" deep
Item # C3389