Posted 8 years ago
Ainsley
(3 items)
This jug? is very light, it seems to be made out of clay. We found it today at an estate clearout. The box it was in said 'Zuni ' on it, but that was crossed out and had 'Hoppi' written next to it. I can't see any clear markings on the base of it for name or date.
It seems to be about 11.75" tall.
I would really appreciate it if anyone might be able to give me some idea of what it is and how old it might be? It does have some big cracks in it sadly.
Great pot, despite the damage. It may be a little difficult to positively identify, but you can rule out both Hopi and Zuni as possibilities.
It looks like it dates ca.1920s/1930s. It is not a traditional form made for their own use, it was made for sale. The problem is, it has some characteristics of Acoma, Laguna, and Zia.
My first impression was Acoma, based on the fact that you say it is very light weight, and the clay and colors used appear right. Acoma potters are known for making the thinnest and lightest pots.
The form of the pot itself is in the style of Acoma, but the placement of the handles is unusual. The only vase with this type of handles I could find is on page 82 of Harlow's "Modern Pueblo Pottery 1880-1960" and is identified as Laguna. It even has the same little dots on the handles. The rest of the patterns are not similar, however. Acoma and Laguna are neighboring tribes, and sometimes it isn't possible to distinguish between their pots.
There are a number of elements of designs here that are associated with Zia: the red "stair" shaped blocks, the two black patterns close to the neck (which Harlow calls a "capped triangular design"), the zigzag pattern in the white rectangle just below them, and the capped swirl below and to the right of that white rectangle. The rather fluid layout of the whole design, and the way it runs diagonal around the pot is also more characteristic of Zia. Both Acoma and Zia mad the thin double black lines separating the designed area from the red underbody.
Zia clay, however, is different from Acoma's, in that Zia is the only pueblo in recent times to temper their clay with basalt. But unless there is a broken area where you can see tiny black specks in the clay body, this may be difficult to determine. And despite the designs, it doesn't have an over all look of a typical Zia pot.
Potters of course can be influenced by designs from other pueblos, and other sources, so it's not a good idea to base identification on designs alone. And since pottery from this time period was just about never signed, it may not be possible to positively say where it was made, other than that it was a Southwest Rio Grande pueblo. It could very well have been made by a Zia potter who married into Acoma, or an Acoma potter who was influenced by Zia design. Or even a Laguna potter, although there were very few making pots there in the 1920/1930s.
Wow! Thank you for all that great information! There are two spots where the damage allows me to see the clay and there are some speckles in it, though it is hard to tell whether they might just be dirt. The whole pot is a bit dirty but I don't think I should clean it, since the paint has tiny cracks in it all over.
Thank you also for naming/describing some of the designs - they are so different to European-style designs that I was having a hard time understanding them, let alone putting words to them.
It's a great little pot, and as always learn so much from CanyonRoad. Would it be possible to see the box it came in? And also when and where did you buy it? Thanks for sharing. :)
I actually got it for free! House flippers had bought the house and were clearing it out. Apparently the man who had previously owned the house was quite a hoarder, and they had been hauling out trucks full of debris. I didn't even bother to take the box, it was just a cardboard box full of old packing peanuts. There were probably more similar artifacts to be found in that house, I might have to go and see if they finished clearing it out yet. I don't know if these sorts of things are very valuable, but it's sad to imagine such lovely historical items being sent to the landfill.
it's beautiful! i thought when i saw it 'Laguna Canteen', but i will defer to CanyonRoad's vast knowledge in this area.