Extraordinary Acoma Polychrome Olla, circa 1900 by Mary Histia [SOLD]

Occasionally we acquire a jar that we can say is an extraordinarily beautiful one. This polychrome olla, dating from circa 1900, qualifies for that title. The intricate fine-lines and the precise checkerboard elements lead to an attribution to Mary Histia who is recognized as certainly the finest Acoma potter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Batkin, she traveled to Washington DC and became popular as an unofficial potter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR was the 32nd President of the United States). Her pottery soon decorated many government offices.

A photograph taken by Adam Clark Vroman in 1902 shows Mary Histia painting a jar with designs not unlike the ones on this jar. 

This jar was formed in native clay with ground pottery shard temper, has a rag-wiped white slip, red neck interior, and red-slipped underbody with concave base. The rim top and framing lines are worked in mineral black, and do not have ceremonial breaks.

The design area is divided into three bands. The main-body band is the major element and is a continuous band of connected rectangles filled with parallel lines and checkerboard blocks. The bands adjacent to it are crisscrossing ovoid elements that appear to be dynamic in their movement around the jar. It is likely that they represent clouds and rain, a not unusual design concept for water jars.

The potter chose to reinterpret the main body design and use it in the design of the upper band encircling the neck. The design at the shoulder consists of tilting rectangular blocks filled in with orange and outlined in black.

Histia deserves to be classed as a master artist. She was a major contributor to the artistic legacy of Acoma Pueblo. Her art is bold, alive and dynamic—an expression of a continuing interest in her work. She did not confine her art to a mere repetition of her previous work, nor did she resort to meaningless geometric designs, but she continually experimented and added to her repertoire. Her designs are at once classic and modern.