Ohkay Owingeh Polychrome Dish with a Deer Dancer [SOLD]

For hundreds of years, from the arrival of the Spaniards in the late 1500s, this pueblo has been called San Juan Pueblo, after the patron saint of the pueblo, St. John the Baptist.  This very conservative pueblo, home to the famous Po'pay and his allies who led the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, chose to go back to its ancestral name Ohkay Owingeh about 20 years ago.  In addition to reverting to its ancestral name, the potters earlier had chosen to revert to their ancestral pottery style, a style dating to 1450 to 1500, known as Potsuwi'i Incised Ware.  Samples of this pottery were unearthed at their ancestral pueblo Potsuwi'i around 1930 and its reintroduction began shortly after. It is now the preferred style.

The pottery style consists of a matte tan overall base with painted or incised designs of geometrics or pictorial elements.  The rim and underbody are generally slipped in red clay and stone polished to a high luster.  This dish features a deer dancer painted in light cream color with highlights outlined in matte red clay, all painted over a beige background.  The rim and complete underside are stone-polished red clay.  The artist's name and pueblo are etched on the underside.

Condition:  original condition with the exception of minor slip loss on the underside from removal of tape or some other sticky substance.

Provenance: from the collection of Katherine H. Rust

Recommended Reading: Pueblo Pottery of the New Mexico Indians: Ever Constant Ever Changing by Betty Toulouse