The 19^th century was one that must have seemed overwhelming for New Mexico’s Pueblo Indians. The Santa Fe Trail from Missouri to Santa Fe opened in 1821 bringing traders and trade materials unfamiliar to the Natives. At that time, New Mexico was part of Mexico. It was not until 1848 that it became a part of the United States. As a part of Mexico, the Natives were inundated with former Spaniards traveling the Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe, again bringing in trade goods of unfamiliar properties.

As a territory of the United States, the Natives found that rules and regulations, under which they were controlled, switched first from the King of Spain, then to the Mexican government and finally to the government of the United States. Following all these changes came another one—the arrival of the train in 1880.

The potters at Cochiti Pueblo reacted to these invasions in a most intriguing manner. From about 1870 to 1920, they made pottery figurines in mockery of the new invaders. As they were exposed to Spanish merchants, carnival workers, entertainment groups and vaqueros, they began to fashion figurines of them. The Santa Fe merchants aggressively marketed these with some success, but unfortunately they were considered “tourist items” and were shunned by museums. Very few ended up in museum collections at that time. Fortunately, collectors appreciated the humor and collected them. Otherwise, we would not have any of these wonderful pieces today.

This figurine is that of an effigy figure with a bird head. The bill of the bird would indicate that it is a duck—any ideas on the particular breed of duck, anyone? The bird symbology on the body of the bird is wonderfully painted and includes a double ring around the bird's head and a fantastic design on the back. There is a minor area on the bird's left wing that has minor abrasion. It is nothing severe and certainly normal, expected wear seen of any 100-year-old figurine.

Provenance: ex. coll. Indiana collector of Native American pottery