This is a traditional Tesuque water jar or olla. True to tradition, the jar was constructed of native clay, slipped with a rag-wiped bentonite slip and decorated with designs typical of the 1880 period.

Tesuque potters, because of their conservative nature, did not stray into the more commercial pottery that their neighboring pueblos fell into; rather, they kept to the traditional shapes and designs used by their predecessors. The red rim and red band near the underbody qualify this jar as a Tesuque Polychrome vessel.

This meandering interlocking scroll was one of the most popular motifs at Tesuque and was never used by another pueblo. It appears on a dough bowl collected by James Stevenson and Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1879 that now resides in the Smithsonian.

Condition: The jar has a small rim chip which is very minor. It tilts slightly but not obtrusively.

Provenance: Purchased from Richard M. Howard collection on 16 August 2007.