Santo Domingo Magnificent Black on Cream Jar by the Aguilar Sisters

Over the decades that we have featured pottery by the Aguilar family, we have come to expect only the finest pottery of the period — 1880s to 1920s — and we have never been disappointed. This jar however, surpasses any of those that we have seen. It is truly a work of art — tall and stately with flawless painted designs.

As with previous pottery we have featured, we do not attempt to attribute a vessel to one of the three potters because we have not found any conclusive evidence to support such a definition. We therefore attribute the pottery to the three Aguilars as a group. It is quite likely that they worked together and visited each other while making pottery.

This jar likely was made between 1900 and 1910 as it did not stray from traditional Santo Domingo design patterns. The design was laid out in four horizontal bands, each featuring different patterns. The wonderful vessel shape, which somehow appears tall and thin despite having similar height and diameter measurements, is a distinctive characteristic of the Aguilar sisters' work. The jar's shoulder is gently rounded, leading inward to a tall neck and flared rim. This is one of the exceptional black-on-cream jars by the sisters. This magnificent jar is solid in appearance with its wide body., high shoulder, and flaring rim. The body designs add an element of modernism, and allows the beautiful pearl slip to expose its well earned patina. The Aguilar sisters were masters at pottery design at a time when individualism was not the norm.

As a matter of record, Kewa Pueblo potter Robert Tenorio told us that the sisters should be referred to as Caté, their family name, not Aguilar. He said the males of the family, who were Aguilars, were the ones who went out from the pueblo to sell the pottery, resulting in it being recorded as purchased from Aguilar. That name has been associated with their pottery for a hundred years or more, so it is unlikely to ever change. We do feel that it is important to make note of it, however.

Condition: very minor rim repairs, otherwise in very good condition

Provenance: this Santo Domingo Magnificent Black on Cream Jar by the Aguilar Sisters is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

References:

- Chapman, Kenneth M. The Pottery of Santo Domingo Pueblo: A Detailed Study of its Decoration. Memoirs of the Laboratory of Anthropology, Volume 1, Santa Fe. 1936.

- Douglas, Frederick H. Santo Domingo Pottery of the "Aguilar" Type, Clearing House for Southwestern Museums, Denver Art Museum, Newsletter No. 37, June 1941.

- Batkin, Jonathan. Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940. The Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1987.

TAGS: Santo Domingo Pueblo, pottery, Felipita Aguilar Garcia, Asunción Aguilar Caté