Historic Santa Ana Pueblo Hanging Pottery Wall Font

This Santa Ana Pueblo hanging pottery wall font is a beautifully executed example of a form that blends traditional craftsmanship with historical adaptation. Designed to be hung on the wall, the piece is polychrome and stone polished, with a smooth, softly reflective surface. It shows only light use and remains clean inside the pocket, with no stains.

The body is covered in a soft dark tan slip and adorned with deep red painted designs, a color combination and finish that are unmistakably characteristic of Santa Ana Pueblo pottery. Traditionally, such wall fonts were used to hold water and occasionally served a ritual function in Catholic-influenced Pueblo households. More commonly, they were crafted for the growing tourist trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, appreciated for both their function and decorative appeal.

Rooted in outside influence but realized through Indigenous materials and design, this piece stands as a quiet testament to cultural resilience and artistic adaptation. It offers a fine example of how Pueblo artists reinterpreted introduced forms through their own aesthetic and cultural lens.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: This Historic Santa Ana Pueblo Hanging Pottery Wall Font is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery.

Recommended Reading:

- Harlow, Francis H. Two Hundred years of Historic Pueblo Pottery: The Gallegos Collection, 1990

- THE POTTERY OF SANTA ANA PUEBLO by Francis H. Harlow, et. al. Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe

TAGS:  Southwest Indian Pottery, Santa Ana Pueblo