Experience Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery in person at the Vilcek Foundation.
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© 2023 Vilcek Foundation.
All rights reserved
© 2023 Vilcek Foundation.
All rights reserved
Among the most alluring features of Pueblo pottery are the incredibly unique and beautiful designs applied on both the surface and interiors of pottery. Each design tells a story or refers to a place, time, vision, or prayer. In some cases, the designs are very abstract, appearing unintentional or simply decorative. Whether crude or refined, the designs are critical to the pot itself as what is depicted is representative of the maker's story, song, or prayer.
Ancestral Pueblo pottery presents an array of symbols and designs depicting elements of the natural environment and prayers for moisture. Rain, clouds, lightning, wind, water creatures, and celestial beings are predominant on pottery of this period. Many of these designs are used today by Pueblo potters. Many of these core design styles evolved as a result of migration and observation of the changing natural environment and expansion of traditional knowledge systems.
Once settled in their present-day Pueblos during the 11th century, the pottery-making tradition continued and became refined in form and design. Not all Pueblos painted designs on their pots; some, including Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos, maintained a tradition of creating undecorated water and storage jars with a shiny black or red finish, depending on the firing process. Older forms of pottery also continued to be produced, with some cooking pots featuring exposed coils, stamped cooking wares, and undesigned white and red pottery.
Both historic and contemporary Pueblo pottery honors original design patterns, enhancing symbols, and motifs, including the variety of stylized birds, deer, plants, and other natural elements. A range of colors also appear on historic polychrome pottery, oftentimes used in depicting animals and plants. Contemporary potters have also expanded mineral paints as well as designs signaling the ever-evolving creative spirit in pottery-making.
This three-color Cochiti polychrome olla features white slip with black and red painted decoration. This great oval-shaped water jar is comprised of a high red base, neck pattern, and multiple panels of decoration. The main panel of discussion is a design that includes cloud, rain, lightning, and water bird motifs. Throughout the landscape are cloud banks, with two of them sprouting above plant stems. Underneath the center cloud bank are rain lines (hachures) and crisscrossing rain lines to indicate lightning or rainstorms. A water bird, or possibly a parrot, stands to the right.
This four-color Acoma polychrome storage jar features white slip with black, red, and orange painted decoration. The design consists of two bands of decoration. The neck has a remarkable checkerboard pattern. The clean lines of the upper design are colored squares that are both red and orange. The alternating blank squares hold a split line in their centers similar to the split leaf design. The body of the jar holds two distinct interchanging diagonal strips that contain rain, cloud, and mountain symbolism. Strip one is a hachured (crosshatched) band with crisscrossing rain lines with small checkerboard squares spaced throughout. Black triangles frame the bands and may symbolize clouds and mountains. The second strip is a connected checkerboard pattern with eyed cloud motifs.
This three-color Zia storage jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The surface decoration of this rotund jar is set into two bands. The neck decoration includes connected patterns of red triangles and capped black triangles with either cloud motifs or rain lines. The body is separated by a black framing line and includes a bold red double rainbow band. The rainbow band, large hachures, upright black triangles, and zigzagging patterns of triangles possibly signify rain. Below the rainbow band rests a Zia-style bird with its talons on the stems of berry plants.
This large four-color Acoma polychrome water jar features white slip with black, red, and orange painted decoration. The all-over-designed jar centers on a continuous patterned band of open black and red rectangles connected to elaborate floral motifs. The motifs are capped at the top and bottom with black half circles that may symbolize clouds. Placed below the unlined rim are four parrots depicted in orange alongside flower forms. The lower portion consists of split black leaves parallel to red fret bands, which represent rainbow bands.
This four-color Acoma polychrome water jar features white slip with black, red, and orange painted decoration. The focal points of this multi-paneled jar are the large circular design panels that decorate two sides. Within each circular pattern is a band of three birds, and each orange bird had a billowing tail, inspired by Zuni Pueblo stylized bird designs. Above and below the band of birds are clouds, crosshatchings, and other rain elements that are also similar to designs seen on Zuni Pueblo pottery.
This three-color Acoma polychrome water jar features white slip with black and orange painted decoration. The all-over-designed jar consists of black framing lines at the mouth and above the orange base. The body decoration is outlined with black-filled doubled triangles that represent rain clouds at the top and mountains at the bottom. The center decoration is a rainbird with central red split square, or heart, surrounded by attached hachured (crosshatched) and black-filled triangles that symbolize rain and clouds. Above and below the embellished orange center are stylized bird heads. The center decoration continues around the body of the jar.
This three-color Cochiti polychrome storage jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The surface decoration centers on three patterns that include plant formations, bird motifs, and large arches. The neck decoration is a band of double triangles connecting at the peak with a row of connected scallops underneath.
This three-color Tesuque jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The design on the center band of this large globular jar includes multiple bird forms that are framed with cloud banks and leaf motifs. Above are five circulating patterns such as scallop-like clouds and zigzagging triangles. There are framing lines at the mouth and top of the base. Additionally, black fire clouds are visible on the base.
This three-color Zuni polychrome olla (water jar) features white slip with black and red painted decoration. Throughout the neck and body is an expansive rain bird design. On the neck is a repeating pattern comprised of a rain bird spiral that slightly expands outward into crosshatched (rain lines) bands. The much larger rain bird motif present on the body is also referred to as the “eye of the storm.” The so-called storm begins with the rain bird’s spiraled beak; as it grows into large bands of hachures, the rain lines become more horizontal possibly to signify wind. Additionally, red triangles are dispersed throughout the body and may signify clouds.
This San Ildefonso black-on-red lidded jar features red slip with black painted decoration and inscription. The jar centers on its impressive form and design. The vessel’s shape is rotund through its shoulders and body. The lid is dome-shaped with a small handle on top and sits on a ridge. Covering the red slip includes multiple black fire clouds from the original firing process. The decoration includes framing lines and scallop patterns on both the body and lid. The focal decoration is a pattern of five open elements that are framed with black-filled scallop design that may represent clouds. Each motif includes depictions of birds and other forms.
This three-color Zuni polychrome olla (water jar) features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The all-over-designed vessel is laced with intersecting crosshatched (rain lines) bands that form a pinwheel-like design. Viewed from above, the hachured bands create a star-like design. In between the points of the star are stacked triangles, some of which may form feathers. The wear of the rim could indicate that the water jar was utilized for its original purpose before being purchased as an art object.
This burnished Zia water jar features black and red painted decoration. The all-over-designed jar opens at the top with a small mouth, then slowly billows outward in its body and comes to an elegant and narrow close at its base. The focal decoration is the black deer that is grazing among the red flowers and leaves. Additionally, fire clouds cover the lower portion of the pot.
This three-color Powhogeh polychrome storage jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. This jar stands in its large globular shape with a medium-sized mouth opening. The surface decoration consists of three horizontal bands, framing lines, and a high red base. The top band is an oval-shaped black contoured pattern that may symbolize open leaf and/or bead motifs. The body band includes a variety of designs that purposefully cover the large surface of the jar. These designs are sizeable triangles that include a stacked black triangle pattern inside and are attached to a winding four-leaf motif. Other elements are feather and cloud symbolism.
This three-color San Ildefonso polychrome pot features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The form of this San Ildefonso polychrome pot follows traditional 17th- and 18th-century Tewa pottery as the vessel consists of an outward rim, elongated neck, and bulging mid-body. There are two main bands of decoration with a middle band design consisting of black contoured circles with red dots. The neck band includes black and red triangular motifs that can represent feathers or leaves. The body decoration is red stepped patterns with possibly feather designs.
This three-color Acoma polychrome water jar features white slip with black and orange painted decoration. The all-over-designed jar centers on its main design of stacked clouds and crosshatched triangles representing rain. The cloud panels are separated by a continuous rainbow painted in a brilliant orange. Water jars of this size are used for collecting water from naturally formed cisterns located on the mesa top of Acoma Pueblo.
This three-color Kewa polychrome dough bowl features white slip with black and red painted decoration. Encircling the body of the bowl are multiple square panels that are comprised of black triangle designs and four-point elements similar to flowers or other plant-like forms. Additionally, the shoulder of the bowl incurves with a flaring black rim for better stability.
This four-color Acoma polychrome bowl features white slip with black, red, and orange painted decoration. The identification of this bowl as both Laguna and Acoma Pueblos indicate the very close similarities in pottery-making as well as the geographical locale of the two Pueblos, which historically shared resources and supplies and which speak a similar dialect of the Keresan language. This bowl is strikingly unique for its red and orange floral motifs that hang off the head of the flared leaves. In between each black winged plant is a diagonal band of checkerboards representing crops. The mouth of the bowl is outlined with double black lines, which rest on a warped mouth, likely the result of the firing process. The base of the bowl has a high red base that matches the interior slip.
This three-color Cochiti Kiua storage jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. Much of the exterior surface of the jar is undecorated, with a few isolated motifs. The neckband consists of a zigzagging pattern of triangles and within the body band are two designs that include a double spiral motif and a single circle with a four-leaf plant inside.
This three-color San Ildefonso Pueblo polychrome storage jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The oval-like shape of this grandiose jar opens with a small and chipped rim. Below the red rim are two framing lines that can also be found on the shoulder and base of the jar. The surface decoration contains a variety of motifs illustrated in black. Some designs include wavering lines, multiple leaf-like formations, and patterns of triangles.