Acoma Pueblo Black-on-white Jar by Lucy Martin Lewis [SALE PENDING C.R.]

This exquisite jar is a brilliant illustration of Lucy Lewis's (c. 1898-1992) fine-line technique and her creative genius for merging two distinct design styles into a unified, complementary whole.

A Masterful Design

The entire body of the jar is covered by alternating squares of intricate fine-line patterns and bold black-and-white triangles, leaving only a small white slip band at the base. What makes the design truly remarkable is the precision required to execute it freehand. Notice how the vertical walls of the design squares are deliberately truncated inward near the rim, run straight at the middle, and are truncated again near the bottom. Achieving this geometric accuracy without measurement demonstrates a near-mathematical level of control by the potter.

Lucy Lewis is recognized for pioneering this complicated fine-line style where designs cross in every direction. This complexity is amplified by the fact that the design was painted using a traditional brush fashioned from a yucca leaf — a feat few potters ever mastered.

The Legacy of Lucy Lewis

Lucy Lewis spent nearly all her 95 years atop the high mesa of Acoma Pueblo, following every step of the ancient ceramic tradition. She offered prayers for the clay, hand-coiled her vessels, scraped the walls with gourd tools, and fired the finished pieces in an outdoor kiln. She is largely credited with the revival of the 1,000-year-old Mimbres Black-on-white pottery designs and was also famed for her polychrome, fine-line, and lightning motifs. This jar, signed Lucy M. Lewis Acoma N.M. "1964." on the underside (along with the collection notation AMI 36), represents the height of her artistry during the post-World War II period when Pueblo pottery became widely collected.

Condition: this Acoma Pueblo Black-on-white Jar by Lucy Martin Lewis is in very good condition

Provenance: Acquired by Adobe Gallery from a New Mexico resident in 2012, then sold to a client from whose estate we have it back to offer again.

Recommended Reading: LUCY M. LEWIS American Indian Potter by Susan Peterson

TAGS: Acoma Pueblo, Pueblo Pottery, Lucy Lewis