San Ildefonso Pictorial Effigy Vessel [SOLD]

25968-effigy.jpg

+ Add to my watchlist Forward to Friend


Artist Unknown

By the mid-1800s, San Ildefonso was a rather poor pueblo. European diseases had devastated the population of the pueblo and what there was of an economy was based solely on farming. The ceramic tradition fared poorly too. There was little need to make more pottery vessels than required in the native households.

 

This dire existence began to take a turn for the better when the railroad arrived in New Mexico in 1880. With the railroad came travelers anxious for souvenirs to take back home with them, so San Ildefonso potters, as well as those of other pueblos, were encouraged by Santa Fe merchants to make pottery for this growing market. This inadvertently revitalized what had become a dying art.

 

When we think of tourist pottery today, we visualize small non-functional pieces, but in the 1880s, the potters continued to make full-size ollas, storage jars, and canteens that were familiar to them. They were not yet into copying Victorian bric-a-brac; therefore, much of this late 19th century production was as large, as traditional, and as fine as that being made for pueblo use.

 

Although effigy vessels, such as this one, had a function in pueblo culture, this one most likely was made by a very talented potter with a design she was confident would attract the attention of a buyer.  There are two birds, rendered in polychrome colors, that we can easily identify as turkeys.  The clue is the man with an axe chasing one of the birds.  There is another man with a square body and hands up in the air.  Between the two men is a tree.  The spout of the vessel is rendered in the shape of a bird. 

 

Overall, the vessel has a very interesting appeal.  It’s historic, beautifully decorated, traditional, humorous and in very good condition.  It is quite likely circa 1900.

 

Provenance: from a gentleman from Santa Fe

Reference and Recommended ReadingPottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin

Close up view of side panel design.

 

Artist Unknown
25968-effigy.jpg25968-large.jpg Click on image to view larger.