Historic Zia Pueblo, Tsi-ya Polychrome Scallop Rim Pottery Jar [SOLD]

This is an exceptional small Zia Pueblo olla that dates to the early twentieth century (1910-1920). It was coil formed from native clay with the addition of crushed basaltic lava as a tempering agent.

The underbody has a stone-polished finish, with the ubiquitous (until 1930) red banding. The neck interior has red slip down to the upper shoulder, just below the scalloped rim, which shows evidence of having been painted in black mineral pigments. The upper body has white slip and was stone-polished, with black and red mineral pigment design motifs. The underbody is concave.

The neck design consists of stacked parallelograms painted with red and outlined in black. The main body is decorated in black on white and is a series of diamonds, some containing checkerboard squares and others filled with brown paint except for a split down the center.

Condition: The Historic Zia Pueblo, Tsi-ya Polychrome Scallop Rim Pottery Jar shows evidence of utilitarian use at the pueblo as a water jar. The paint around the rim is mostly worn off, but the remainder of the paint is in very good condition. Structurally, the vessel is in excellent condition.

Recommended Reading: The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Harlow and Lanmon

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Pottery, Zia Pueblo, Historic Pottery