Cochiti Pueblo Extraordinary Storage Jar, circa 1880 [SOLD]

We often state that Cochiti Pueblo did not make many large vessels because of the intense attention paid to making figurine pottery starting around 1880, however, this wonderful 1880 or earlier storage jar is testament to the fine pottery vessels that were made at that pueblo prior to the almost complete conversion to making figurative pottery. It has a wonderful rounded body with the widest diameter being at mid-body and a short neck culminating at the rim. It is well balanced with an almost rounded bottom and has very thin wall construction—better than most storage jars from any pueblo.

The vessel body is beautifully and simply decorated with rain cloud elements placed at diagonal orientation around the circumference of the jar. The neck decoration is simple in that the black design is applied as outlines for oval elements that resemble floral petals.

The underside is stone-polished red slip with a 1-1/2-inch wiped-on red band just below the lower pair of framing lines, both of which feature ceremonial line breaks. The entire interior of the vessel also is stone-polished without the addition of slip. There is a pair of framing lines at the rim which also feature ceremonial breaks. The black rim also has a ceremonial line break that lines up with the framing lines breaks. Even the base of the neck design has a framing line break. In essence, the entire vessel has framing line breaks that line up and penetrate the entire design.

Condition: There is a very minor rim chip and a couple of hairline cracks at the rim all of which have been stabilized to reinforce the integrity of the jar.

Provenance: ex. coll. Colorado Native pottery collector.