Lucy Lewis Small Jar with Black-on-White Fine Line Pattern [SOLD]

This jar was made by Lucy Lewis, an influential Acoma Pueblo matriarch. The vessel is thin walled, with a gentle shoulder, a small base and a wide rim. It's a small piece, which makes the intricate nature of its designs and the precision with which they were executed quite impressive.

Lewis created a fine line design in black-on-white. Spiral triangles appear in mirror image pairs, creating a larger rectangular form that repeats many times around the jar's exterior while alternating its direction. The rim is black, and the base is orange. Each element was executed beautifully, resulting in an impressive piece.

The bottom of the pot is signed Lucy M. Lewis, Acoma.

Matriarch Lucy Lewis (1898-1992) was one of the most widely respected potters from Acoma Pueblo. Lewis followed pueblo tradition in every step of pottery production—offering prayers of thanks to Mother Earth for the clay, taking only as much clay as she needed, working the clay with only her hands, forming the vessel from coils of clay, scraping the walls with tools fashioned from gourds, painting the vessel with slips and paints made from clay and vegetal sources and, finally, firing the finished pieces in a handmade outdoor kiln. Lewis was born around 1898 and passed away on March 12, 1992. She spent nearly all her life atop the high mesa of Acoma Pueblo, making pottery from the age of 8. She is largely responsible for the revival of Mimbres Black-on-white pottery designs, which are more than 1,000 years old. She was famous, as well, for her exquisite polychrome designs and her fine line and lightning designs.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Lucy Lewis Small Jar with Black-on-White Fine Line Pattern is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: LUCY M. LEWIS American Indian Potter by Susan Peterson

TAGS: Acoma Pueblo, Pueblo Pottery, Lucy Martin Lewis