Special Value Offer: Possibly the Largest Laguna Pueblo Jar Ever Made [SOLD]

C3937A-laguna.jpg

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Evelyn Cheromiah, Laguna Pueblo Potter
  • Category: Modern
  • Origin: Laguna Pueblo, Ka'waika
  • Medium: clay, pigment
  • Size: 13” height x 17” diameter
  • Item # C3937A
  • SOLD

Special Value Offer: the consignor has authorized an almost 1/3rd price reduction from the original price of $5500 to a new price of $3500.

She must have made this specifically for entry in the New Mexico State Fair in 1986.  She was rewarded for that effort as it was awarded First Premium that year.  Now, 30 years later, we have the pleasure to offer it at our Santa Fe gallery.Adobe Gallery purchased pottery from Evelyn Cheromiah for years at the Albuquerque gallery but never did we see anything from her as large as this one.  She must have made this specifically for entry in the New Mexico State Fair in 1986.  She was rewarded for that effort as it was awarded First Premium that year.  Now, 30 years later, we have the pleasure to offer it at our Santa Fe gallery.

Pottery production had declined at Laguna Pueblo in the early 20th-century, largely because the men were being employed by the railroad, thereby providing cash income for the families.  It was then no longer necessary for the women to make pottery for sale to tourists. They could, and did, purchase pottery from potters at Acoma Pueblo for use in their households.  By mid-20th-century, men and women were employed by the uranium mines on the pueblo lands, so there continued to be no need to produce pottery for sale or for their own use.

Evelyn Cheromiah was an exception.  She was one of the few to continue making pottery.  In the 1970s, she received a federal grant to teach pottery making to others at the pueblo, thus sparking revival in pottery production at Laguna.  Still, today, there are only a few potters there.

Evelyn had continued, in all ways, to make pottery in the traditional manner.  She collected her own clay, used potsherds for temper, mineral and vegetal paints for the designs, and fired in the traditional outdoor firing technique.  She well demonstrated her abilities in this gigantic jar.  It was well formed, rings beautifully, was meticulously painted and fired perfectly.  On the shoulder, just below the neck, she placed three rows of triangular-shaped indentations into the clay.  It is no wonder it was awarded First Premium that year.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Albuquerque

Recommended ReadingAcoma & Laguna Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Close up view of side panel design.