Kewa Pueblo Chile Bowl with Circular Designs [SOLD]
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- Category: Modern
- Origin: KEWA, Santo Domingo Pueblo
- Medium: clay, pigment
- Size: 3-3/4” depth x 7-7/8” diameter
- Item # 25946 SOLD
Chile bowls have their start in life as any other pottery bowl—that is they have a clay bottom formed in a puki and side walls that grow upward one coil at a time. Their walls are scraped and sanded and eventually painted with a design of the choice of the potter or a design fostered by tradition. The best view of a bowl is from the side at a slight angle so one can appreciate the decorated exterior and have a glimpse of the interior below the rim. The interior of a utilitarian bowl is not decorated but the patina developed over years or decades of use is worth viewing.
Bowls are hemispherical, as if looking at the southern half of the world. In a sense, the bowl does represent the earth and the missing upper half of the sphere represents the sky. Food served in the bowl is a representation of having come from the earth. We, as outsiders, appreciate the beauty of a bowl from an esthetic view, but do not understand, and never will understand, the sacred concepts of the bowl to the pueblo people. Perhaps appreciating the beauty is sufficient for our needs.
This Kewa Pueblo Chile Bowl with Circular Designs, like many chile bowls, is decorated on the exterior with black painted designs that form the outline of what we see as the design, which actually is the unpainted part. The interior is a beautiful cream color, stone-polished, highly burnished finish that says it was used in service. The rim is painted black and features a ceremonial line break that continues through the framing lines and design panel. The underside of the bowl is polished red clay. The bowl appears to date to the mid-20th century.
Condition: very good condition with a small divot on the interior over which is some black paint
Provenance: from a resident of Isleta Pueblo who received it from her parents
Recommended Reading: A River Apart: The Pottery of Cochiti & Santo Domingo Pueblos by Valerie Verzuh, et al.
- Category: Modern
- Origin: KEWA, Santo Domingo Pueblo
- Medium: clay, pigment
- Size: 3-3/4” depth x 7-7/8” diameter
- Item # 25946 SOLD
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