SPECIAL OFFER: Magnificent Polished Black Large Bowl [SOLD]

Special Offer: The owner has requested that we reduce the price of this outstanding black bowl by 20% from the original price of $10,000 to a new price of $8000.

This is one of the most striking polished black bowls I have seen. It is burnished inside and out and is void of any decoration. It has a mirror-like finish from any angle viewed. The bowl is in excellent condition except for a couple areas on the exterior of the rim where there is some abrasion of the polished surface, as if the bowl rubbed against a wall. These areas are not significant and are not even noticeable at first glance. It is an excellent example of this potter’s work.

Provenance: This piece was purchased from Margaret Tafoya at the 1963 Santa Fe Indian Market. It has remained in the same Santa Fe collection to this date.

COMMENTS: Some experts have contended that smothering pottery during the firing process creates a carbon smoke that penetrates the pottery, turning it black. Even though several books describing black pueblo pottery attribute the color change to carbon, the reduction of iron oxide is the correct mechanism. Ceramicists, describing ancient styles of Old World pottery, state that iron impurities in clay form red oxide at red heat, but if air is lacking during firing, iron impurities in clay form black magnetite.