Black-on-white Acoma Pueblo Jar with Pie Crust Rim [SOLD]

There has always been a need for bowls for serving food as well as smaller bowls from which to eat. Plates did not, and do not, exist at the pueblos. All meals were eaten from bowls. Even today, at feast day ceremonies, visitors are served meals in bowls, not plates.

It was traditional at Acoma, unlike at Zuni Pueblo, to leave the interior of bowls undecorated, as use of the bowls would eventually obliterate the decoration. Zuni has a tradition of decorating the interior of bowls.

What has become known as a  “pie crust rim” is not a recent trend as it was used on early 20th century bowls, but more often is seen on bowls from the mid- to late-1900s. This bowl has a pie crust rim achieved by an added coil of clay at the rim in a thickened version that then has been scored as a pie crust might appear. It is speculated that the potter used a tool—perhaps a metal file—to press the clay and form the ridges.

The bowl was probably made in the late 1960s as there is very little spalling of the clay that is more predominant after the 1960 decade. The bowl is in excellent condition and does not appear to have been used.

Provenance: From the estate of Transcendental artist Florence Pierce of Albuquerque who passed away in 2007 at the age of 89. She was best known for luminescent paintings made of pigmented resins on reflective surfaces. Her interest in abstraction began in the 1930s when she was an associate of the Transcendental Painting Group. The New York Times called her “the doyenne of abstract art in the Southwest” following her art exhibit in New York City in 2006.