Zia Pueblo Pictorial Pottery Bowl with Deer Imagery [SOLD]

Medium-size bowls have probably been made more frequently than any other pottery shape.  Bowls have served various functions at the pueblos for a thousand or more years. There are bowls made for use as food serving vessels, smaller bowls from which to eat, medium-sized ones for making tortilla dough, and bowls of various sizes for additional use as lids on storage jars and water jars.  Jars made for food preparation and serving were decorated exclusively on the exterior. Bowls decorated on the interior were probably made to be sold.

This bowl from the early twentieth century was never intended to be used for food serving but was made with a collector in mind.  The interior design of four happy deer is reminiscent of designs from Zuni Pueblo and that is where the idea originated. Design ideas passed freely between pueblos during the latter part of the 1800 and early 1900s as potters were attempting to create what they thought would appeal to the many travelers on the AT&SF trains that were passing through New Mexico during those decades.  If a design was successful for Zuni potters, it would probably work for Zia potters as well. The intent was to produce saleable wares.

The exterior of the bowl features traditional designs from Zia, as would be expected. These designs were traditionally used on food serving bowls and were perfect for use on bowls made for sale.  It was the interior pictorial elements that were designed to attract the attention of a potential buyer.

Condition: this Zia Pueblo Pictorial Pottery Bowl with Deer Imagery is in very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe resident

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

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