Book - Two Hundred Years Of Historic Pueblo Pottery: The Gallegos Collection [SOLD]

The Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico are noted for the fine pottery that they have made for over a thousand years. Working with the clay, minerals and plants found near their small villages, these artisans have created ceramic vessels that rival those of any other Neolithic society in the world in both beauty and serviceability.

This book describes one segment of Pueblo Pottery history, mainly the period of 1730-1930. It focuses on a particular collection assembled in recent years by Robert V. Gallegos of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Like any fine and thoughtful gathering of examples, it reflects both personal taste and the opportunities for acquisition.

A remarkable feature of the Gallegos collection is its excellent balance of great beauty and theological significance. Among the eighty-seven vessels described in this book are many fine examples from the Pueblos of Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Zia, Santo Domingo, Cochiti, Tesuque and San Ildefonso, together with some very significant pieces from the Hopi villages, Santa Ana and Santa Clara.

The book centers around the superb color photographs of John Bigelow Taylor. For each there is a an extensive caption putting the vessel into historical perspective, pointing out its significant features and the cross-cultural influences that contribute to both its style and the purpose of which it was made. Also included are frequent comments on attribution, dating, and the technical issues of materials and firing. Combining beautiful color photography with the extensive descriptions written by Francis Harlow, this volume serves as both an art book and a reference work.

Almost none of the fine vessels illustrated here has ever before been pictured or described in an accessible publication. From the earliest and rarest example (a superb jar of Payupki Polychrome dating circa 1700) to the most recent demonstrations of this living and thriving art, the book exhibits Pueblo Indian pottery evolution though the last great era of ceramics for domestic use into the present era of ceramics as purely an art form.

Condition: book is brand new and autographed by the author—Robert Gallegos.