Acoma Pueblo Polychrome Small Historic Pottery Water Jar [SOLD]

Occasionally we acquire a small jar that we can say is an extraordinarily beautiful one. This polychrome olla, dating from circa 1900-1920, qualifies for that title. Formed of native clay with ground pottery shard temper, it has a rag-wiped white slip, red-slipped neck interior below the decorated rim, and red-slipped underbody with concave base.

The extensive use of dark brown paint in the design makes this a visual masterpiece. The interior of the rolled-out rim is beautifully decorated with checkerboard squares-some filled in with solid color and some with only dots of paint. The added orange leaf elements add a bit of sunshine to the neck.

The checkerboard design is repeated at the shoulder and again as dividing panels between the larger designs on the main body. The denseness of the overall design concept could have been overwhelming on such a small piece, but it works in the opposite here making it a much more powerful piece. A pair of handles adds a sense of balance.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Acoma Pueblo Polychrome Small Historic Pottery Water Jar is from the collection of a client to whom we sold this in 2006

Recommended Reading: The Pottery of Acoma Pueblo by Dwight P. Lanmon and Francis H. Harlow, 2013. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe

TAGS: Southwest Indian Pottery, Acoma Pueblo, Historic Pottery