Nineteenth Century Zuni Pueblo Box Turtle Figurine [SOLD]

Zuni Pueblo potters are well-known makers of animal and human ceramic figurines, especially in the 1875-1880 years.  They actually were making them before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16^th century, but few survived.

Zuni potters made figurines of owls, chickens, ducks, deer, antelope, goats, cow and other animals and birds.  One of the rarest figurines is that of a box turtle.  There were three turtle figurines collected in 1881 and 1885 and those are in the collection of the Smithsonian.  [Harlow and Lanmon, 2008, 385]

This dark brown turtle is almost identical to one of the turtles in the Smithsonian collection.  Both have red lines forming squares on the dark brown shell.  Both turtles are almost totally dark brown.  They are so similar that it is quite likely both were made by the same potter in 1880, the date assigned to the Smithsonian one.

Condition: excellent condition with chips on a couple toes.

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Colorado

Recommended Reading: The Pottery of Zuni Pueblo by Harlow and Lanmon, 2008.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery