A polychrome olla of Laguna Pueblo origin, dating to circa 1900-1910. This piece is a superb example of pottery made solely for use within the Pueblo as a truly utilitarian vessel. This work was in fact purchased at Laguna, where it had been in the same family for at least three generations, seeing daily use as a vessel for storing water.

A fine visual statement, this vessel\'s design field is broken into three sections: mid-body, shoulder, and neck. The underbody and neck interior are slipped the typical orange-red, with a white, rag-wiped slip on the mid-body. The upper field is worked in black mineral pigments on white, with a lovely arrangement of white ellipses, split with an interior motif of bilaterally paired triangular elements, with white tear-drop motifs defining the space between each elliptical motif. The shoulder is worked with two bold, unbroken framing lines; the interior space activated by running split rectangles. The field at mid-body is defined with a series of ellipses, again with interior split curvilinear motifs, adjacent to block geometric and fine-line detailing.

A most wonderful jar, with phenomenal visual history evidenced by the extensive ethnographic wear from decades of daily use.

Reference and Recommended Reading: Identifying Laguna Pueblo Pottery, circa 1900 by Dwight P. Lanmon. American Indian Art Magazine, Summer 2007. Vol 32, No 3. pp 70-77.