Ohkay Owingeh Polished Black Dough Bowl, circa 1900 [R]

This polished black bowl is circa 1890-1910 and is a standard Tewa shape from Ohkay Owingeh [formerly San Juan Pueblo], deriving directly from seventeenth and eighteenth century bowls with upright sides and constricted rim.

The upper half of the vessel was slipped in red clay from the pueblo and then stone-polished to a high luster. The underbody is the natural, un-slipped, tan clay of the full vessel that was stone polished without the addition of slip. The natural un-slipped interior of the bowl was stone polished as well. The bowl was then fired in a reduction firing, resulting in the two-tone black finish.

The shape of the bowl is very pleasing. It flares out from the bottom to just above midway of the vessel body then gracefully curves inward to a graceful neck that has a gentle concave shape.

The bowl has been broken in half (one break only) and glued back together. It has a leather thong tied around the neck to add strength to the vessel to permit its further use. There doesn’t appear to be any restoration other than reassembling the two pieces.

This is an extraordinary bowl that needs no written accolades to speak of its beauty. It stands alone on its own merits.

According to Batkin¹, pottery making at Ohkay Owingeh [formerly San Juan Pueblo] almost died out by 1900 except for an occasional piece made for household use or for sale or trade. There was a revival in the 1930s but it was of a different style. It is difficult to find pieces of this size from this time period.