Special Offer: Polychrome over Red Tall Neck Jar [SOLD]

Special Offer: The owner has asked us to reduce the price of this jar by 50% from the original price of $350 to a new price of $175.

This jar is not signed by the artist, but it certainly is of the style made popular by Belen Tapia of Santa Clara Pueblo in the 1950s through the 1980s. Tapia was Sara Fina Tafoya’s niece and Margaret Tafoya’s first cousin. She is certainly one of the first to develop this style polychrome painting, using pastel colors made from nature’s materials.

Following World War II, New Mexico was as popular a tourist attraction as it is today. People traveled from the East in search of old west adventure. Many tourists visited the Indian Pueblos near Albuquerque and Santa Fe and took excursions to see local people and sites. Making and selling souvenirs to the tourists became a major source of income for Southwestern Indian people.

This jar is typical of pieces made for sale as this shape has no function within the pueblo. It was probably intended to be a flower vase. The polychrome designs are traditional ones used on pueblo pottery for centuries and were meant to impart an Indian feeling to a non-Indian shape vessel.

The vessel is in excellent condition; however some of the paint has been abraded. Most of the paint loss is around the neck, but it is not significant. A few scratches are evident in the red slip but are very minor.