Historic Zia Pueblo Storage Jar by Harviana Toribio

This storage jar was created by Harviana Pino Toribio of Zia Pueblo. Francis H. Harlow and Dwight P. Lanmon's The Pottery of Zia Pueblo features multiple photographs of the artist and her works. Fortunately, these photographs are dated, which allows us to make an estimation of this storage jar's age. A photograph dated to ca. 1935 shows the artist surrounded by a number of pieces with similar designs—birds, with distinctive floral elements and vertical design bands. Photographs dated 1938 and 1943 show pieces in a different style, which uses wide rainbow archs and larger, bolder elements. We believe that this piece was completed around or shortly before 1935, as all later examples feature wide arch bands or some sort of design element with a more modern look.

Toribio painted two horizontal bands on the exterior of this jar, with a dividing line appearing between the two, circling the shoulder. Vertical bands of geometric elements divide the horizontal bands into three sections. Birds and flowers in black and red appear within the large rectangular areas of cream slip left by the intersecting bands, forming an appealing composition that repeats three times around the jar's exterior. All the design work was executed beautifully, and the color palette is gorgeous.

At about eighteen inches in both height and diameter, this is an incredibly large jar. It is not uncommon for jars of this size to have issues with balance and symmetry, but this piece displays nothing of the sort. Remarkably, it is nearly perfect in this regard. The creation of a vessel of this size and quality is truly a rare and remarkable accomplishment.

Harviana Pino Toribio (1904-1949) Sr'audyuwi' was a Zia Pueblo potter who was active from ca. 1915 to 1948. Toribio made polychrome ollas, jars, bowls, tiles, miniature adobe houses, and other forms. Harviana (also spelled Sarviana or Faviana) Pino Toribio was the daughter of Tomas Pino and Martina Galvan Pino. She married Frank (San Francisco) Toribio, son of Mariano and Rosalia Medina Toribio, in 1925. They had two children, Felecita and Elsie Toribio. Toribio is featured prominently in Francis H. Harlow and Dwight P. Lanmon's The Pottery of Zia Pueblo, in a lengthy passage featuring multiple images and descriptions of the artist and her works. Toribio received a first prize at the 1940 Santa Fe Indian Market.

Condition: excellent condition, with some light wear from years of handling. Blacklight examination reveals no restoration or repair.

Provenance: this Historic Zia Pueblo Storage Jar by Harviana Toribio is from a private collection

Image Source:  Zia Pueblo Potter Harviana Pino Toribio. "Zia Pueblo Indian Pottery Maker." Photograph by Frasher, Pomona, California, ca. 1935, courtesy Palace of the Governors (NMHM/DCA) neg. no. 47954.

References:

- Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2,000 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

- The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Francis H. Harlow and Dwight P. Lanmon