Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Shallow Pictorial Bowl [SOLD]

Before 1900, pottery at Ohkay Owingeh, known then as San Juan Pueblo, was what is referred to today as plainware.  The vessel was partially slipped in red clay, which was stone polished, and the non-slipped area too was stone polished.  After firing in an oxidizing atmosphere, the result was a red-over-tan vessel.  The same vessel, fired in a reduction firing, resulted in a black-over-gray vessel.  Decoration on these pre-1900 vessels was non-existent.  By 1900, pottery production at the pueblo had ceased except for the small amount required for use in the pueblo.

There was a period of about three decades with little or no pottery activity at the pueblo.  Then, around 1935, an interest in reviving pottery making was stirred by a few potters.  Following several years of research of the Museum of New Mexico collections and the collections of the School for Advanced Research, the potters chose 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.  There is no potter's name on the dish so she will remain unknown.

Condition:  Original condition except for some loss of slip on the underside, which is not visible when displayed.

Provenance: from the collection of Katherine H. Rust

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