Cochiti Pueblo Polychrome Bowl with Pictorial Interior Design

This striking Cochiti Pueblo polychrome bowl dates to the mid-20th century and features a distinctive and pleasing color palette of raw sienna and black on a soft greyish slip. The bowl's deep form is notable for its proportions, and its pristine interior suggests it was never used for utilitarian purposes, indicating its likely role as a cultural object.

The interior is richly decorated with traditional motifs, including a painted rim, lower framing lines, and scalloped rain cloud elements rendered in raw sienna. Each of these design elements is punctuated by ceremonial spirit line breaks, honoring Pueblo traditions. At the center is a highly unusual pictorial depiction of a deer. Though suggestive of the classic heartline deer motif, this version omits the heartline. Instead, an inner channel is present while an arrow pierces the deer's back — a rare and evocative variation. The deer is antlered, clearly rendered as a six-point buck.

The exterior of the bowl continues the visual narrative with an additional variation of the rain cloud motif, also featuring a ceremonial spirit line. The base of the bowl is slip-painted in a warm raw sienna tone, grounding the piece in earthy elegance.

In very good condition, the bowl has a single rim crack, but the vessel remains stable. Altogether, this is a finely crafted and visually compelling example of Cochiti Pueblo pottery, the thoughtful symbolism and artistic variation is what sets this bowl apart.

What is a Heartline?

Condition: very good condition with a single rim crack; the vessel remains stable

Provenance: This Cochiti Pueblo Polychrome Bowl with Pictorial Interior Design is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery.

Recommended Reading: A RIVER APART, The Pottery of Cochiti & Santo Domingo Pueblos, Edited by Valerie K. Verzuh, Foreword by Shelby Tisdale, Essays by Bruce Bernstein, J. J. Brody, Antonio Chavarria, Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Mateo Romero, and Valerie K. Verzuh. Published in association with the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, NM.

TAGS: Santo Domingo Pueblo, Pueblo Pottery, Cochiti Pueblo