Robert Tenorio Pictorial Small Kewa Pueblo Pottery Water Jar [SOLD]

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Robert Tenorio, Kewa Pueblo Potter

Artist Signature of Robert Tenorio, Kewa Pueblo PotterThis jar’s design is traditional and yet innovative.  As a potter from Kewa Pueblo, Robert Tenorio follows traditions and observes restrictions in his pottery designs.  The traditional aspects of this jar are the cream slip, the Kewa polychrome birds and flowers, and the ceremonial line breaks at the rim, and in the double framing lines below the rim and those below the design area.  The innovation appears in using an orange slip for the lower pair of framing lines, a dark black bottom section of the jar, and, finally, a lightning-like ceremonial line break through the black underbody.

The underside is signed Robert Tenorio Kewa 2001.  The child-size water jar dimensions certainly add to the charm of the jar.  Even on the smaller surface, the birds and flowers are prominent and demand attention.  The two birds are slightly different in body design—one with a solid orange slip body, and the other with a black-on-cream body.


Condition: original excellent condition

Provenance: this Robert Tenorio Pictorial Small Kewa Pueblo Pottery Water Jar is from the collection of a family from Arizona

Recommended Reading: Voices in Clay: Pueblo Pottery from the Edna M. Kelly Collection by Bruce Bernstein, Ph.D.

Relative Links: Southwest Indian PotteryKewa - Santo Domingo PuebloContemporary PotteryRobert Tenorio, Kewa Pueblo Potter

The innovation appears in using an orange slip for the lower pair of framing lines, a dark black bottom section of the jar, and, finally, a lightning-like ceremonial line break through the black underbody.

Robert Tenorio, Kewa Pueblo Potter
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