This is one of the most impressive Zia dough bowls that I recall ever seeing and we have been handling dough bowls for over 30 years.  This one was beautifully constructed and expertly painted.  The design is the one seen on almost all Zia dough bowls from the late 1800s.  The design is typical for the period 1880 - 1890.

Read more about this Zia dough bowl here..

This is our first acquisition from Kewa Pueblo potter Vidal Aguilar, a member of the famous Aguilar family of potters dating back to the late 1800s with the Aguilar sisters of fame.

This large olla is painted in four horizontal panels in black on cream designs.  The upper panel at the rim consists of half circles, generally recognized as clouds.  The next band consists of tulip designs in an upside down position.  The band of designs at mid body appear also to be tulip elements, face to face or perhaps black rain clouds back to back. The lower band of designs could be cloud elements in black in a back to back position.  The underside is polished red slip.  The jar is signed with the artist's name and hallmark.

Read more about this Kewa pottery here..

The potter, Carlotta Toya (1937 - ) of Jemez Pueblo, carved into the top center of this jar, a beautifully shaped heart, which is stone polished slip, and outlined it in deep red with a further outline of black.  The design on the mid-body is a traditional design seen on Zia dough bowls.

Read more about this Jemez pottery here.

This is a wonderful antique-style silver and turquoise brooch. The large domed oval turquoise stone, measuring 1-5/8" x 7/8", is an all-natural stone with a beautiful display of copper matrix. The stone is set in a silver bezel and surrounded by twisted silver rope. Silver wire swirls outline the edges of the silver base. A secure lock is attached to the pin mechanism.

Read more about this Navajo pin here..

This bracelet has a foundation of two heavy strips of sterling silver anchored at the ends with a silver bar.  They spread out as the bracelet expands to the center and become the support for a medallion of elaborate silver wires, balls, and rope which surrounds a beautiful oval and domed turquoise cab which has a beautiful copper matrix in the center of the stone that resembles the shape of South America. Silver panels with repoussé embellishments flank the stone.

Read more about this Navajo bracelet here..

This pair of pottery candlesticks is Tesuque Pueblo by origin and features black outline designs left unpainted.  It is not evident if the potter planned to fill in the design with color or if it was her intent to leave it as shown.  There is an old fabric sticker on one that states Tesuque Indian Village Near Santa Fe August 18 1932.  It is tempting to surmise that a tourist visited the home of a potter at Tesuque and saw and purchased this pair unaware that the painting was not complete.  The potter was probably quite pleased to sell the pair as shown.

Read more about these candlesticks here..

The Hopi have preserved their culture in a more traditional form than many other Native tribes in the United States.  The men have continued their reenactment of the roles of the Katsina in Hopi life and the women have continued to practice the art of basketry for its original intent. 

We, as outsiders, see Hopi Third Mesa plaques as decorative objects made to sell to tourists and collectors but that is only a secondary and recent purpose.  The plaques have served to retain Hopi culture and the women are responsible for this occurrence.  It is the females who laboriously gather the materials, process them through sun drying, preparing the dyes and dying the wicker and then, as a last step, weaving the plaque.  It is the plaque that symbolizes the woman's role in Hopi culture as it is the reenactment of the Katsina dances that reinforces the role of the men.

Read more about this Hopi basket here..

This fringed white braided Hopi Pueblo sash is often called the "wedding sash" as it is one of the items presented to the bride at her wedding. It is also sometimes called the "rain sash" for the fringe symbolizes falling rain. The sash is woven by hand from handspun cotton. Fragments of similar sashes have been found in prehistoric pueblo sites, attesting to it being an ancient form of Southwestern Pueblo weaving.

Read more about this sash here..

The Hopi have preserved their culture in a more traditional form than many other Native tribes in the United States.  The men have continued their reenactment of the roles of the Katsina in Hopi life and the women have continued to practice the art of basketry for its original intent. 

We, as outsiders, see Hopi Third Mesa plaques as decorative objects made to sell to tourists and collectors but that is only a secondary and recent purpose.  The plaques have served to retain Hopi culture and the women are responsible for this occurrence.  It is the females who laboriously gather the materials, process them through sun drying, preparing the dyes and dying the wicker and then, as a last step, weaving the plaque.  It is the plaque that symbolizes the woman's role in Hopi culture as it is the reenactment of the Katsina dances that reinforces the role of the men.

Read more about this Hopi basket here..

The Hopi have preserved their culture in a more traditional form than many other Native tribes in the United States.  The men have continued their reenactment of the roles of the Katsina in Hopi life and the women have continued to practice the art of basketry for its original intent. 

We, as outsiders, see Hopi Third Mesa plaques as decorative objects made to sell to tourists and collectors but that is only a secondary and recent purpose.  The plaques have served to retain Hopi culture and the women are responsible for this occurrence.  It is the females who laboriously gather the materials, process them through sun drying, preparing the dyes and dying the wicker and then, as a last step, weaving the plaque.  It is the plaque that symbolizes the woman's role in Hopi culture as it is the reenactment of the Katsina dances that reinforces the role of the men.

Read more about this basket here..

Lela Naranjo Gutierrez (1895-1966) and her son Luther Gutierrez (1911-1987) collaborated on pottery following the death of Lela's husband Van in 1956. Lela and Van were true innovators at Santa Clara Pueblo. They specialized in pictorial designs in a variety of hues and colors not normally associated with pueblo pottery. Luther continued in his father's style.

This vessel is a reintroduction of a prehistoric vessel of over a thousand years ago.  It resembles a pair of gourds put together to form a two-chamber canteen.  The umbilical connector between the two globular sections is hollow so liquid from one chamber can pass to the other chamber.

Read more about this canteen here..

Margaret Tafoya is a name all collectors of 20th century pueblo pottery know very well. She and her family were and are major potters of blackware. Margaret is associated with having made very large vessels but she also made smaller items as well. This black carved wedding vase is less than 12 inches in height and is one of hers produced in the mid-1970s or 1980s.

Read more about this pottery here..

Tourist items such as this Southwest Indian Pottery canoe have been popular since the early 1900s and will certainly continue to be so.  Most older items like this do not bear the name of the maker as they were made to sell as curios and the maker's name was not important.  We have had black-on-black canoes before but never had one that included a hand-carved wooden oar.

Read more about this pottery here..

A Zuni emergence myth tells us that the Zuni began a migration as soon as they entered this world.  They first elected leaders for this migration-the son and daughter of the village chief-who went ahead of the others.  During the trip, the brother became enamored with his sister and copulated with her.  The result of this incestuous relationship was the birth of ten children that night.  Nine of the ten were misshapen, impotent, and witless, and they became known as the Koyemshi-also known as the Mudhead.  The ten Zuni Mudheads resemble each other but actually are different in their masks and gear.

Read more about this Katsina here..

This seed jar is low and wide with an almost flat top that rises just so slightly to a rim that curves upward.  A wide black framing line just below the rim and another one just below the mid-body set the boundaries for the design.  Mark chose two different birds-which he described as a Quail (see top knot) and a Falcon (see beak).  On the two birds he colored a single tail feather with a blue/white clay he discovered at the Awatowi ruins at Hopi. 

The designs that alternate between the pair of birds is a more traditional rendering of the Sikyatki split tail feather seen on pottery by Nampeyo which she reintroduced from Sikyatki wares.

Read more about this pottery here..

This is an early Sikyatki-revival bowl that is unquestionably the work of Nampeyo of Hano.  The shape of the bowl is typical of Nampeyo's construction in that the inner edge of the rim has an extra thickness of clay, applied probably for strength.  The outer edge of the rim has the characteristic inward roll.

The design is practically lost from view because of extensive use of the bowl, but it too is characteristically Nampeyo in style. The band that runs across the bowl occupying 1/3^rd of the design area and the stylized bird pendant to that band are both well documented design styles of Nampeyo, inspired by Sikyatki pottery.  It is among the earliest designs of Nampeyo that were influenced by the 14^th to 16^th centuries ceramics of the Sikyatki.

Read more about this pottery here..

Nampeyo of Hano was an artistic genius who looked at fragments of ancestral Hopi ceramics from a thousand years ago and used that as her inspiration for creating shapes and designs on her pottery which she was making in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  She rarely, if ever, copied designs from the Sikyatki but used those to create designs of her own.

This jar is one of Nampeyo's creations using design inspiration from the Sikyatki potters before her.  Any attempt to define the meaning of these designs would be purely speculative as only the potter from Sikyatki who first used similar ones would know if there was meaning or just personal creativity.  The black design that separates the polychrome ones has been called eagle tail feathers but do we know who came up with that name?  It seems like an obvious description and certainly will continue to be used in the future.  Another design has been interpreted as a Katsina face.  The two half circle eyes would define the face and the pair of orange curved pieces could be horns.

Read more about the pottery here..

This presentation is for two necklaces because they make a wonderful presentation when worn together.  One necklace is a single strand of coral with short tubular beads of turquoise.  There are five sterling silver crosses and two crescent shaped pendants on the necklace.  The other necklace is four strands of tubular coral and turquoise beads.  Either necklace alone is rather unimpressive, but wearing them together is most impressive.  The coral and turquoise in the two necklaces match perfectly.

Read more about this necklace here..

This Arts and Crafts Movement mission oak buffet was manufactured by the Rockford Chair & Furniture Company of Rockford, Illinois and shipped to the American Furniture Company in Denver, Colorado to be sold.  It has a central door with glass, inside of which is one shelf.  Above the door is a drawer divided into three sections, presumably for silverware.  A large drawer spreads across the lower portion of the buffet.  A framed mirror covers the width of the buffet.

Read more about this buffet here..

  Acoma Pueblo potter Pablita Concho has been listed as an active potter in a survey of 1974 but no mention of her in a survey in the 1940s.  She was obviously a competent potter at the time she made this canteen.  It is large, well-constructed and beautifully designed with influence from Tularosa pottery of pre-historic time.

Read more about this  Acoma canteen here..