Zia Pueblo Magnificent Historic Small Pottery Jar [SOLD]

Some potters have a feel for what makes an outstanding jar—vessel shape, placement of the shoulder, treatment of the neck— and the maker of this Zia Pueblo historic pottery jar from the 1880s had those attributes under her control.  The jar rests on a concave base and the wall expands out sharply to three-fourths of the wall height, then abruptly curves in and rises to a one-inch neck.  It is the high shoulder and short neck that make this jar stand above many others.

The design is centered at the widest part of the vessel.  Pairs of arches rise up to the shoulder and are mirrored by pairs dipping below the midpoint.  Centered within each of the ellipses are parallel lines with red dots in their center.   A chain of clouds hangs below the rim framing line, split leaves sprout up from the body design, and leaf-shape triangles arch from the lower framing line.  A significant inch-wide wiped-on red band covers almost half of the polished underbody. The rim is black and a red line covers the interior of the rim.

It is easy to praise this little jar for its magnificence.  It is strikingly handsome and still in very good condition after 140 years of existence.  

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Zia Pueblo Magnificent Historic Small Pottery Jar is from the extensive collection of a Santa Fe resident

Recommended Reading: The Pottery of Zia Pueblo by Harlow and Lanmon

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Pottery, Zia Pueblo, Historic Pottery