Historic Zuni Pueblo Polychrome Pottery Bowl in White, Black and Orange [SOLD]

When James Stevenson visited Acoma Pueblo in 1879, he did not return home with a large amount of ceramics.  He was perhaps too involved in collecting Zuni pottery and less enthusiastic about Acoma wares. At that time, “Acoma potters made exquisite vessels, nearly identical to Zuni types.”  [Batkin 1987:137] Four years later, Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff collected more than 1650 vessels from Acoma for the Smithsonian.  

On first examination of this bowl, one would deduce that it was Zuni by origin, however, Stevenson labeled it “110050 Acoma N.M Stevenson Bur. Ethnol.”  It does not resemble Acoma clay and does more closely resemble that from Zuni.  Adobe Gallery is speculating that it was a Zuni-made bowl given to someone at Acoma. The two pueblos are relatively close and travel among the people of both was frequent.

Not being proficient in early historic pottery of New Mexico pueblos, our speculation on this bowl is based on personal knowledge of later historic period wares.  It certainly is quite possible that it is a bowl made at Acoma but we will leave that determination up to more experienced students of earlier pueblo pottery

Condition: this Historic Zuni Pueblo Polychrome Pottery Bowl in White, Black and Orange is broken and reassembled with minimum filler material.  The bowl is almost all original.

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of Colorado

Reference: Batkin, Jonathan.  Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Pottery, Zuni Pueblo, Historic Pottery, Acoma Pueblo