Undecorated Large Kiapkwa Olla [SOLD]

A pottery classification from Zuni Pueblo is Kiapkwa, named after the Zuni farming village Kiapkwainakwin, and it dates to circa 1760-1850. Neckless storage jars with long conical upper bodies, low center of gravity and bulging waists were a common 18^th century form.

This marvelous small storage jar could not possibly date to later than the 1850s. The straight walls and high shoulder are typical for the classification of Kiapkwa of that time. The lack of decoration probably is another indication of the older time period.

The jar shows evidence of use on the interior. Small chips on the short neck are the only exterior evidence of damage. The exterior was slipped in traditional Zuni slip and stone polished. No form of decoration was applied.

George Parker Winship collected this jar at Zuni Pueblo in 1898, presumably in the same condition as it now appears. It was probably being used in daily household chores. Winship, while a student at Harvard, translated Pedro de Castaneda’s journal of Coronado’s 1540-1542 quests for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Fulcrum Publishing republished an edited version in 1990. In his Introduction, Dr. Donald C. Cutter assesses this as still the authoritative translation, hence the republication.

According to the dust jacket notes: “Castaneda’s narrative, as translated and edited by George Parker Winship, was first published in 1896 in theFourteenth Annual Report of the U. S. Bureau of American Ethnology. Accompanied by other documents, including letters from Coronado, the report also featured Winship’s Historical Introduction to the expedition. Eight years later, Winship revised and corrected the translation for publication under the title The Journey of Coronado, 1540-1542.” It is this version that was republished in 1990.

Provenance: The property of Philip Winship Davis, from the collection of his grandfather, George Parker Winship.