Native American, Southwest, Zuni, ca. late 17th to early 18th century CE. Impressive for so many reasons - its age (dating to the period of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 to early 1700's!), beautiful floral motifs, and grand scale - this gorgeous piece of Zuni pottery was handbuilt in the traditional coil-and-scrape manner, coated with an orange slip and hand-painted with black decorative motifs. The overall form is simple yet elegant, presenting a broad deep form with flared walls that curve inwards just beneath the rim. However, the decoration is intriguing. The artist painted three 8-petaled flowers with stamen and a two dotted petals each as well as one crossed, dotted square (the dots perhaps indicative of frog eggs) - all set equidistantly on the interior walls. Zuni Pueblo artists are known for their beautiful painted pottery with designs that have traditiionally been symbols for botanical specimens, water, frogs, and tadpoles. Size: 15" in diameter x 6.75" H (38.1 cm x 17.1 cm)
A piece like this was handbuilt in the traditional way, using clays dug from the Zuni Pueblo, hand-kneading it with old sherds used as temper, hand-built from coils, scraped and smoothed. Then mineral slips and paints were applied, and the vessel was fired in an open fire. Most early Zuni pottery was utilitarian, but when decorated like this example, the pieces most likely had an intended meaning, adorned with symbols that had been passed down from generation to generation. Zuni potters in particular demonstrated an incredible continuity in their design programs - some 7,000 years - and actually helped the Hopi revive their tradition.
Provenance: ex-private E. Thomas collection, San Diego, California, USA
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#150179
Condition
A couple of stable pressure fissures from the rim (about 1" long). Slip shows nice craquelure. Painted decorations have faded a bit but still retain strong forms. Covered with mineral deposits.