Excavations on the Pajarito Plateau (now Bandelier National Monument) were begun in 1907 under the auspices of Dr. Edgar L. Hewitt of the newly founded School of American Research in Santa Fe.  Men from San Ildefonso Pueblo were hired to do the digging and Julian Martinez was among them. As they dug polychrome pottery sherds in the 1908 season, Maria Martinez was at the camp and saw the designs and she and Julian spent the winter producing polychrome vessels with designs based on those seen from the excavations.  Polychrome pottery, which was what was being made at San Ildefonso at the time, was what they made from the sherds.

It was not until 1912 that Maria and Julian began producing polished black pottery.  This was not a creation of theirs but a standard pottery being produced at the Tewa Pueblos-San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, San Juan, Nambe, Pojoaque and Tesuque.  What they did, however, was to refine the form and create a highly lustrous finish.

In 1919, Julian experimented and discovered a way in which to apply a matte design on the polished black pottery Maria was making.  He painted the design over the polished surface using the same slip that was used on the polished surface, but left this slip application without polishing it.  Julian was an accomplished painter already so transferring his artistic talent from paper to pottery was natural. He painted the designs on the pottery using a paint brush made from the leaf of the yucca plant, removing the outer layer and leaving only the thin interior fibers as the paint brush.

By the 1930s, Maria and Julian were famous for their pottery-both polychrome and black.  They were acknowledged as making the best pottery at the pueblo. They were encouraged and promoted by Hewitt and the Museum of New Mexico.  They worked tirelessly together until Julian passed away in 1943. Maria continued making pottery until her son Popovi Da passed away in 1972, at which time she retired.  She passed away in 1980 at an approximate age of 93.

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When Mark Tahbo brought us this jar on August 16, 2016, he surprised us with two innovations that were new in his artistic endeavors, but we will get to those a little later. Initially one needs only to take a look at the shape of this seed jar and admire the amazing pictorial designs on the upper portion. There are four design panels and each is different.

To start from the beginning, that is, the construction of the vessel, we listened to Mark explain where and why he chose the clay for this jar.  Mark has always admired Garnet Pavatea and her production of pottery so he decided to visit the clay source Garnet used and to gather enough of that clay to make this jar.  That clay bed is on the side of the road from the village of Polacca to the top of the mesa where Garnet lived.

After building the vessel with the "Garnet" clay, as he said, he set it aside until he could decide what decorations to use.  He then fell back to the inspirations from Nampeyo of Hano and her use of Sikyatki designs.  The panel of design with a sweeping red curve, that represents a stylized Sikyatki bird, has multi-colored polka dots on the body.  Mark said he thought the earlier potters would have used dots placed on with the end of a stick rather than stippling as seen on later Hopi pottery.  Arched over this bird is a band of rain clouds and rain.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #HopiPueblo #HopiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #MarkTahbo

The distinctive feature of older baskets is the two-rod foundation, resulting in a finer weave and smoother walls than the later three-rod foundation. The rims are always woven in a herringbone pattern. This is a distinctive Diné characteristic that was eventually adopted by the Paiute when they started making wedding baskets for the Diné.

Navajo baskets or Ts'aa' have a number of uses. They are used ceremonially to hold prayer sticks and medicine bundles, because it is taboo for ritual objects to touch the ground. They are important for Kinaalda' ceremonies, the coming of age ceremony for young women at puberty, where they are used to hold yucca suds for ritual baths and hair washing of the young woman. They are used in wedding ceremonies to hold corn pollen and food.  

The designs in Navajo baskets have significance and depending on the interpretation can symbolize the creation myth, life's journeys or be a map of the Navajo cosmos. The simplest interpretation is that the white center is the emergence area, or area of birth. The black coils represent clouds or four sacred mountains. The red band is the sun's rays which bring life. There is always a line from the center of the basket to the outer rim, a path from the center for the Spirit to come and go. The pathway meets at the outer edge where the weaver has stopped coiling.

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This basket was formed over a two-rod sumac foundation.  Navajo baskets have been made with multiple rod foundations-three rods and even up to seven rods. Two-rod foundation baskets display thinner coils, resulting in a more symmetrical and tighter weave.  Baskets with three or more rod foundation display thicker coils and are, therefore, faster to make. Generally, they are not as desirable or as exquisite looking.

This basket has the traditional Navajo wedding basket design, but the weaver took liberty to make some changes.  What is normally presented as red rows have, in this basket, been replaced with a more rust color. The black triangular steps pendant to the colored bands have been outlined with the rust color, something not done in the more traditional style.  Everything else seems to follow tradition.

This basket is larger than those made for a medicine man's use, therefore, it was probably made to be sold to a collector.  It is quite possible that the basket maker was a traditionalist who made those mentioned changes so as not to sell a basket used in traditional ceremonies to a non-Indian.

#adobegallery #NativeAmericanBasket #SouthwestIndianBaskets #Navajo #Diné #DinéBasket #NavajoBasket #SantaFeNM

When one thinks of a Navajo ceremonial basket, what comes to mind is a shallow bowl of a defined design that is used by a medicine man in a hogan ceremonial event.  Usually, such a basket is about 3 inches deep and 12 inches diameter. It has a strip of red around the middle of the wall. The red is sandwiched between black stepped triangles on the top and bottom.  The rim is finished in a herringbone weave and ends at the point of the ceremonial line break through the design.

Other Navajo ceremonial baskets that feature the same design as the one required by a medicine man for wedding or healing ceremonies differ in size and somewhat modified in design.  This bowl is a good example of a pseudo-ceremonial basket-larger in size, deeper than usual, and a design that invokes a ceremonial basket but modified slightly. Such baskets are traditional and are used by medicine men too.  They are needed by a medicine man to hold sacred corn meal, prayer feathers, medicines, stirring rods, flints, claws, colored earth, and other things as part of his ceremonial bundle. They are necessary because it is taboo for ritual objects to touch the ground. They are important for Kinaalda' ceremonies, the coming of age ceremony for young women at puberty, where they are used to hold yucca suds for ritual baths and hair washing of the young woman. They are used in wedding ceremonies to hold corn pollen and food.  

#adobegallery #NativeAmericanBasket #SouthwestIndianBaskets #Navajo #Diné #DinéBasket #NavajoBasket #SantaFeNM

When the members of today's Navajo tribe arrived in the Southwest around 1500, they were a nomadic people of Athapaskan heritage from the north.  On arrival, they split into what we know today as Navajo and Apache tribes. The Navajo settled in northern New Mexico, mingled with the Pueblo peoples and adopted some of their culture.  They planted corn and other crops and settled into semi permanent family camps. Their ceremonial life became more elaborate once they settled.

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 had effects on the Navajo as well.  When the Spanish reconquest forced many Pueblo people to flee their villages, they took refuge among the Navajos.  The Navajos accepted the refugees and, during the period between 1700 and 1770, they acquired many skills and practices which are accepted today as Navajo tradition.  Among these, was basket weaving.

The Navajo made baskets for daily use, particularly after their release from imprisonment at Bosque Redondo. Each Navajo family was alloted two sheep and their personal belongings at the time of their release.  Materials for making baskets were free so their use became routine. Following the devastation of their lives during imprisonment, ceremonial functions became important to restore their health and for the well being of their home, flocks, and fields, and for their security.

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It has become common knowledge that members of the Paiute Tribe have made ceremonial baskets for the Navajo for over a hundred years.  There are several reasons the Navajo turned to their northern neighbors for this favor. When the Diné were released from imprisonment by the government, they were poor and broken in spirit.  From the depths of poverty and humiliation, they turned to spirituality for salvation. They developed serious ceremonial functions that required strict adherence to ritual and rules.

One of the items developed in conjunction with this spirituality was a "ceremonial" basket needed by the medicine man to hold sacred corn meal, prayer feathers, medicines, stirring rods, flints, claws, colored earth, and other things as part of his ceremonial bundle.  Because of the importance to the ceremony of the basket, it was considered special. It was not allowed to touch the ground. The woman who made one had many restrictions placed on her. She was forbidden to have intercourse while making a basket, not allowed to be touched by anyone, kept in isolation to observe  dietary restriction, could not work while menstruating, and had to undergo ceremonial cleansing before and after making a basket. Her weaving materials had to be placed so nobody would step over them. It was then that the Navajo invited the Paiutes to make ceremonial baskets for their use, as they had no such restrictions.  Whiteford 1988:32

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The standard wedding basket as we know it today is rare in collections of nineteenth century Navajo baskets in museums such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Peabody Museum of Harvard University.  Most of the baskets in those collections are decorated with a variety of designs, none of which is like the design of today's wedding basket. Designs such as Spider Woman crosses, spirals, whirling vanes or zigzag designs were used. There were no tribal restrictions on designs in the nineteenth century.

This very large basket has a design that might be called a zigzag design.  Like traditional nineteenth century ones, this one is comprised of only two colors-golden color of yucca and dark brown of dyed yucca.  The large star pattern at the bottom center provides the opening for the ceremonial line break as one tip of the star divides the banded pattern above.  As was true then, and is still true today, the ceremonial line break is located at the point were the herringbone rim comes to an end. That is a deliberate action necessary for a medicine man to locate the ceremonial break when the basket is in use in a dark hogan during a ceremony in which the ceremonial line break must point to the east. 

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According to Andrew Hunter Whiteford, in his book Southwestern Indian Baskets Their History and Their Makers, the design on this nineteenth-century Navajo basket may be "ancestral to the classic wedding basket design, which is rare on old two-rod-and-bundle baskets." Whiteford 1988;36.  His meaning is that the red zigzag band morphed into the straight-edged band now seen in the wedding baskets of today.  The wedding basket design of today is rare in nineteenth-century baskets but it seems to have had its start with the design of this one.

This Native American Basket has the same two colors seen in later wedding baskets-russet red and black- another clue to this design eventually transferring to today's wedding basket design.  

#adobegallery #NativeAmericanBasket #SouthwestIndianBaskets #Navajo #Diné #DinéBasket #NavajoBasket # #SantaFeNM

The Western Apaches were not a single tribe, but consisted of five separate and completely independent tribes-the Cibecue, San Carlos, White Mountain, and Northern and Southern Tonto.  They are now considered collectively as Western Apache.

The Western Apache were of less trouble to the United States Government in the 19th century than some of the more aggressive Apache tribes. They were not displaced by the military like the more belligerent Apache of other tribes.  As a result, they retained their lands and much of their culture. Their fine basketry is the best known of the Apache tribes and they are treasured by museums and collectors.

This large Native American Basket bowl likely dates to the very early 20th century and features a design that is most unusual.  The large rectangular panels on the inner wall resemble windows or tall buildings. 

Traditionally, and in this basket, the foundation was made from a grouping of three willow rods.  They were placed so tightly together that it appears to be a single rod. The stitches also were made from willow.  The black areas are of devil's claw. The brown circle of the center of the basket and the brown rim are standard and rarely change.  Between these two areas, the design was from the mind of the weaver.

#adobegallery #NativeAmericanBasket #SouthwestIndianBaskets #Apache #WesternApache #Basket #PuebloBaskets #IndianBaskets #SantaFeNM

There are mixed reactions among collectors, some of whom desire pristine pottery that does not show it was ever used and others who look seriously for pottery that shows it was used at the pueblo prior to appearing on the market for sale.  Fortunately there are both types available to satisfy both preferences.

This Acoma Pueblo jar has significant wear to the area of the rim, evidence of many years of use as a water jar, with the handle of a ladle wearing away the painted surface and some of the clay body around the rim.  Further evidence of use as a water jar is the white calcium residue on the interior of the jar and also on the exterior from water evaporation through the porous clay.  This is very desirable from an historic pottery perspective.

The mid-body design consists of a chain of bold black elements that float beautifully around the body.  One element consists of a square containing a clover-like blossom surrounded by parallel black lines. Another element is lighter in presentation and is a kite-like element surrounded by leaves with black dots.  Over and under these alternating mid-body designs are split black diamond and triangle boxes filling the space voids. The overall result is a strong and impressive design that elevates the jar to a pleasing object of art.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #AcomaPueblo #AcomaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

Dorothy Trujillo, who passed away in 1999, was an outstanding potter. She was originally from Jemez Pueblo, but moved to Cochiti following her marriage to Onofre Trujillo, and obtained permission to make pottery using Cochiti clay.

In true Cochiti Pueblo tradition, Dorothy made her figurine with eyes closed and mouth open. The closed eyes represent "thought" and the open mouth represents "storytelling." The adult figurine is beautifully painted with a design on the back and wearing a squash blossom necklace.  There are twelve children, four on the right side, four on the left side and four on the legs. The children have a variety of items in their hands-drum, watermelon, balls, and other shapes. 

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #CochitiPueblo #CochitiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery

At first glance, one would suspect that this was made by Martina Vigil (1856-1916) and painted by Florentino Montoya (1858-1918) because of the large black fan emblem on the body.  That emblem, with slight changes, is seen on many documented vessels by them.  We have not specified that they are the artists because the painting is not as tight as Florentina normally did.  It is looser in style and less perfected.  It is quite possible, however, that it was one of his later efforts in the last few years of his life, but we cannot prove such.

The jar is traditional to San Ildefonso, as are the designs.  It probably dates to 1910-15, a period that would agree with Florentina's last years.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SanIldefonsoPueblo #SanIldefonsoPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

It is a common expectation to see a Zia bird featured on an OLLA, usually surrounded by floral elements, but the exuberance of the hachured lines on this jar take precedence over the bird.  Hachure designs at Zia came from Zuni Pueblo, probably as early as 1880. This adoption of designs from one pueblo to another increased at that time due to the movement of people through marriage or other reasons.  The arrival of the passenger train in New Mexico in 1879 provided more opportunities for potters to make wares for sale and the movement of artists from pueblo to pueblo became more frequent.

The fine line hachured elements, outlined in a narrow and wide band is a direct import from Zuni pottery from the Zuni Rain Bird design.  In this Zia interpretation, the triangular-shaped boundaries are more structured and fixed than the Zuni Rain Bird design that has hooks and bends.  This Zia hachure design facilitates dating this jar to the late 1800s.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #ZiaPueblo #ZiaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

This style necklace is centuries old. Archaeologists discovered caches of turquoise and shell necklaces at Chaco Canyon, evidence that the ancestors of today's Pueblo people were using turquoise nuggets and shell as items of adornment over one thousand years ago.  And from the earliest of times, turquoise has been favored by the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest. They mined it at Cerrillos, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, for centuries. Turquoise had religious, ceremonial, superstitious and economic values to the Pueblo Indians.

Bits of turquoise were put in bearing beams of buildings to strengthen them, offerings of turquoise were made at sacred shrines, medicine men used it in diagnostic and healing rituals, and it was often used in burials. It is a unique sign of wealth and is seen in abundance at ceremonial dances at the pueblos of New Mexico.  Hieshe, made from seashells, such as used in this necklace, is constructed in a most interesting manner. The shell is cut into small pieces, drilled and strung on cotton string, then slowly and meticulously rolled over sandstone until each piece is round and all the pieces are of the same diameter or graduated diameter, if desired. Cotton is used because it is softer and doesn't wear against the shell too abrasively. The turquoise tabs that are added to such a hieshe necklace are drilled, often off center, and strung with the hieshe to form an interesting necklace.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianJewelry #SantaFeJewelry #KewaPueblo #SantoDomingoPueblo #Jewelry #SantaFeJewelry #SouthwestPuebloJewelry #Necklace

This is a very traditional Kewa (Santo Domingo) Pueblo polychrome olla, probably from the 1930s, with traditional rag-wiped bentonite slip, black rim around the top, black framing line just below the rim, black double framing lines just under the neck and another pair just below the mid-body. All the framing lines incorporate ceremonial breaks.

The main body is decorated in extremely bold design elements-strong black triangles back to back.  Suspended from the lower framing lines are pairs of arcs as if draped from the lower line.  The interior neck has been rag wiped with red slip, and the underbody below the design field has been wiped with a red slip. The underside is concave.

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There is similarity between the older Pima, Papago, and Apache basketry.  Sometimes it is difficult to determine the origin simply by looking at the design or the rim stitching, however, materials used are a defining factor.

Pima basketmakers used grass-like materials for the foundation-such as cattail stems, wheat-straw, or sometimes arrowbush.  Apache basketmakers used a single rod, usually willow, for the foundation, providing a more rigid basket than those with a grass foundation.  The Papago used materials similar to those used by the Pima, but the stitching and rim coils differ between the two tribes.

This basket, at first glance, would appear to be Western Apache, however, the grass foundation materials identify is as Pima.  The beginning coils in the bottom were stitched with devil's claw, as were the other single zigzag black lines. The red design was executed with split peel yucca root.  The golden tone weave is of willow. The basket dates to the 1920s.

#adobegallery #NativeAmericanBasket #SouthwestIndianBaskets #AkimelOodhamBaskets #PimaBaskets #SantaFeNM #IndianBaskets

Dough bowls come in various sizes, depending on their intended use.  Some are very large-17 inches or more-for those times when bread is being prepared for large crowds at feast days; smaller ones-12 inches or less-for those days when just a few loaves are being prepared.  This dough bowl is of the smaller size.  The advantage of smaller ones like this is that they can be used for serving food or other functions when not in use for letting the dough rise. 

This bowl features a creative and unusual design in which a potter expressed her artistic abilities rather than apply the same design seen on so many bowls of the period.  The bowl has a polished cream skip on the interior and exterior, both of which have acquired an aged and warm patina, suggesting that the bowl is approaching a hundred years of age.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #KewaPueblo #KewaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

In the early 1900s, both Nampeyo and her daughter, Annie, made black-on-red pottery.  Annie is credited with outlining some of the design with white occasionally. How many other potters made similar styles is not known.  Examples have been documented by Evelyn Poolheco, Sadie Adams, Emogene Lomakema, Nellie Nampeyo, Lena Chino Charlie, and other contemporary potters,  so it is difficult to make an attribution when one is not signed. This small bowl has the name Paquawritten in pencil but it is doubtful that it was written by the potter but most likely some someone making an attribution.  Paqua, of course, was the first Frog Woman. 

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #HopiPueblo #HopiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery

This is an historic child-size water jar that is believed to date to circa 1880s.  It has a warm cream slip over which are designs in dark brown pigment. The boldness of the design and the openness of its arrangement strongly lean to an origin of Laguna Pueblo.  The stacked arches are split through their centers, another trait of Laguna Pueblo, usually seen as "split leaf" designs but in this case interpreted as stacked rain clouds. The underbody is concave and orange in color and a red band was placed on the interior of the rim.

We have chosen to identify this as having originated at Laguna Pueblo primarily based on the size and design of the vessel.  Also, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line had a daily stop at Laguna Pueblo to allow tourists to take a break, get off the train, and purchase souvenirs from the potters.  A vessel of this size and shape was certainly more attuned to the tourist trade than to pueblo use.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #LagunaPueblo #LagunaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery