Historic Acoma Four-Color Jar with Parrots Eating Berries c.1880

This Acoma Pueblo four-color jar, dating to around 1880, is a striking and spirited example of the pueblo's ceramic artistry. With nearly symmetrical proportions, where the height and width align in balanced harmony, the jar presents a refined form that serves as an ideal surface for its dynamic design.

The decoration features three large parrots with clusters of berries overhead. Painted in red, dark brown, and yellow-orange mineral pigments on a bright white slip, the birds are rendered with clarity and energy. The design is thoughtfully composed and animated, lively, yet controlled. A low mid-body creates a broad canvas that allows the motif to unfold. The painted rim and small red base add balance to the composition, while the interior of the neck is slip-painted in red, offering a subtle connection between the interior and exterior.

Made from Acoma's traditional white clay and finished with a fine white slip, the jar provides a vivid background for the bold polychrome decoration. The condition is excellent for a piece of this age, with no restoration and clearly preserved detail throughout.

In the 1880s, Acoma Pueblo was well known for producing highly refined pottery that appealed to both local use and outside collectors. Its location atop a remote sandstone mesa helped maintain cultural traditions, even as growing interest from traders and anthropologists brought wider recognition. Parrot imagery, introduced to the region through early trade, had become a favored decorative element symbolizing abundance and distant connections.

This jar reflects the creativity, technical skill, and visual confidence of late 19th-century Acoma pottery. Its low mid-body is the clue to its age. Its exceptional condition, sophisticated design, and use of mineral pigments make it a compelling and important work within the Pueblo pottery tradition.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: This Historic Acoma Four-Color Jar with Parrots Eating Berries c.1880 is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery.

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