Historic Pottery Moccasins with Painted Bottoms c. 1890s

This pair of pottery moccasins was made at San Ildefonso Pueblo sometime around the 1890s. They feature traditional designs seen on San Ildefonso pottery around this time, although interestingly the motifs vary slightly between each moccasin. The subtle differences make these moccasins more fascinating to observe.

The colors used are the highly customary dark beige, orange, and black. There are also fire clouds prominently featured on the right moccasin, and more understated on the left. The insole also varies slightly in design and color, with one moccasin having more of a lined, black zigzag motif and the other more of a faded gray without additional lines.

Perhaps most intriguing about these pottery moccasins is the addition of design on the bottoms. Often beaded soles on moccasins were thought of as burial moccasins, although this has been disputed as there are photographs of Native Americans wearing moccasins with beaded bottoms. It is possible that they were meant to be worn for special occasions, and when the wearer lifted their feet, the viewer would catch a glimpse of the designed bottom. Could the potter have been influenced to decorate the bottoms of her pottery moccasins by the trend on beaded moccasins?

Tourists have always been fascinated with pueblo pottery, but the large, traditional bowls and jars that were in use in the pueblos in the late 19th century were too cumbersome to travel with, so the pueblo potters began making small souvenir pieces. Pottery moccasins filled this need. They were made at several of the pueblos in the late 1800s and early 1900s, following the arrival of the train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1879.

Condition: good condition with some paint abrasions

Provenance: these Historic Pottery Moccasins with Painted Bottoms c. 1890s are from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: Collections of Southwestern Pottery: Candlesticks to Canteens, Frogs to Figurines by Allan Hayes, et al.

TAGS: Southwest Indian Pottery Figurines, San Ildefonso Pueblo