Extremely Rare Isleta Pueblo circa 1900 Polychrome Jar with Handles [SOLD]

Prior to 1880, potters at Isleta Pueblo made plain red pottery that was devoid of design or decoration.  The poor quality red clay at Isleta was not suitable for making high-quality thin-walled pottery.  Pottery from Isleta of that time is not in large quantity in any museum collection because it was not considered worthy of such.  When one looks at it today, however, it is amazingly beautiful in its red purity and simplicity.

In 1880, a large group of Laguna Pueblo Indians permanently moved and set up a village near Isleta which they named Oraibi.  The massive move was a result of a dispute within the Laguna population.  The Laguna women were makers of polychrome pottery and they took the techniques and designs with them.  Not only were the designs and colors attractive to potters at Isleta, the Laguna potters knew how to use proper temper to achieve strong and thin walls.  Eventually, the Laguna style became the Isleta style and Laguna designs still appear today on pottery from Isleta.

Large Polychrome jars such as this one are extremely rare as most of the pottery made at Isleta were small tourist items that could easily be hauled to the train station in Albuquerque and sold to tourists who were traveling at the time.  Such large jars were primarily made for use at the pueblo.  This jar, measuring 11 x 11 inches is typical of one that stayed at the pueblo for use.

Condition: very good condition with evidence of some repair or over-paint.  It appears to have been broken and repaired.

Recommended Reading:  Pueblo Pottery of the New Mexico Indians: Ever Constant, Ever Changing by Betty Toulouse

Provenance: sold by Adobe Gallery to a client in 1989 and now received from a different client who purchased it from the previous client’s collection.