Posted 7 years ago
gardengrace
(1 item)
I bought this ceramic in the 70s when I was exploring the reservations in Arizona.
I have lost track of where I. purchased this ceramic, but would love to know it's origin.
Tho top is brown with stylized star, but the rest is white. (See photos). I'm assuming it is white clay. Anyone have any ideas?
what does it say on the bottom?
It's not traditional Native American pottery. It appears to be a commercial greenware piece (made from a mold), and glazed on the inside, unlike authentic Native American pottery.
The white clay is a clue here. Traditional Native American pottery is made from local clays, not commercial, white clay. It's a type of decorated souvenir pottery, made for the tourist trade, by many southwest companies.
Thanks so much for responding. My son (young eyes) figured out that the bottom is signed and then a word I cannot discern followed by Sioux. I wish I can remember more about it. It is unlike all other pots I bought on the reservations. Maybe it was a gift. In any case, thanks for your help.
There is a company in South Dakota that makes this type of pottery. It is often signed with a name, followed by "S.P.R.C. S.D." which stands for Sioux Pottery, Rapid City, South Dakota. There may be some connection.
In any event, the Sioux never made pottery, so the factory-made souvenirs produced by the factory are not considered traditional Native American pottery...even if the workers at the factory happen to be Native American.
The factory was started in the late 1950s, to provide jobs, and to produce souvenir pottery. SPRCSD evidently modeled its sales techniques after those of Nemadi Pottery (again, no connection at all with Native American pottery), so the internet is now filled with claims similar to Nemadji's. The only difference appears to be that the workers are, in this case, Native American. But if they were manufacturing cars instead of pots, it still wouldn't make the cars "Native American."