Historic Black over Gray Ohkay Owingeh Bowl [SOLD]

This polished black bowl is circa 1890-1910 and is a standard Tewa shape from Ohkay Owingeh [formerly San Juan] Pueblo, deriving directly from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century bowls with upright sides and flared rim.

The interior of the vessel was applied with red clay from the pueblo and then stone-polished to a high luster. The exterior is the traditional clay of the vessel to which red slip was applied to the upper half, leaving the lower half without slip.  The full exterior was then stone polished. The bowl was then fired in a reduction firing, resulting in the black over gray finish.

The shape of the bowl is very pleasing. It flares out from the bottom to just above midway of the vessel body then gracefully curves inward to a restriction at the neck, then flares outward in a rim with scalloped edging.

This is an extraordinary historic bowl that needs no written accolades to speak of its beauty. It stands alone on its own merits. It exhibits extensive use based on the interior bottom.

According to Batkin, pottery making at that pueblo almost died out by 1900 except for an occasional piece made for household use or for sale or trade. There was a revival in the 1930s but it was of a different style.  There is no question that this bowl is one made for pueblo use.

Condition: The bowl is structurally in very good condition. There are a few rim chips and some evidence of use on the interior of the bowl.

Provenance: this Historic Black over Gray Ohkay Owingeh Bowl is from a Santa Fe resident who recently inherited it from an estate

Reference and Recommended Reading: Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin.