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Native American Pottery
of the Pueblo Indians
Native American Pottery of the Pueblos:
It's the genre that comes to mind when you think of Native American Pottery. This level of artistic achievement comes from a group of people who have lived a quiet, peaceful existence and have successfully kept their culture intact over centuries, despite outside efforts. Keep in mind that the inhabitants of the Southwest were the only group of people not to be displaced from their traditional homelands. When you think of stereotypical genres, pottery to the Pueblo Indians is like woodcarving to the Northwest Coast peoples and quillwork to the Plains peoples. To this day, the craftsmanship of these artisans rivals that of Europe or the Orient.
Info snippet: Did you know... Pueblo literally means groups of houses?
But, it's more than just the living arrangements, it's an "awareness", a state of being that is inherent in all aspects of Pueblo Indian life. They participate in the community's cultural and ritual life. They remember and practice traditional customs and rarely marry outside their groups. Each Pueblo has developed a stylistic and decorative pottery-making craft that reflects its needs and belief systems.
Thanks to FirstPeople.us for the graphics
Nambe Pueblo Native American Pottery:
Until about 1830 Nambe (People of the Round Earth) Pueblo was a tremendous center for the manufacture of painted pottery. It is primarily a polychrome style. Around 1830 the production of decorated wares at Nambe decreased sharply, and it is likely that none were made at that village after that date. Later Nambe vessels consist principally of black wares, with fluted-rimmed bowls like those of Santa Clara, jars resembling those from Picuris, and plain tan vessels of relatively rough finish.
Hopi Native American Pottery:
Info snippet: Did you know... the Hopi Nation consists of approximately 650,000 acres of land surrounded on all sides by the Navajo reservation!!!
Since the end of the 19th century, the predominant type of Hopi pottery includes shallow bowls, cylindrical jars, and flat, low-slung jars with a short neck. These unique forms are painted with bird, plants, animals, rain, lightning, snow and wind motifs on an unslipped surface that ranges from yellow to a deep, warm orange.
Info snippet: Did you know... Old Oraibi, a Hopi village, is the oldest, continuously inhabited village in North America!!!
Acoma Native American Pottery:
Acoma pottery is noted for its thin walls, fine lines, vibrant figures and light weight. Acoma vessels are decorated in black with complex geometric and curvilinear polychrome designs carefully painted on a white slip background. The most frequently seen painted figures are birds, vines, lizards or deer. The Acoma potter makers were very influential in the pottery of the Zuni pottery makers.
Laguna Native American Pottery:
Laguna pottery is similar to Acoma pottery. This is not surprising since the two villages are located only a few miles apart. One potentially distinguishing characteristic of Laguna pottery is the use of comparatively large painted designs that interlock and completely encircle the vessel.
Zia: Native American Pottery
The Zia Pueblo has maintained its tradition as a leader in the production of excellent ceramics in styles that show virtually no European influence. They have a matte-paint style and their most popular motif was the feather, a sacred symbol. Until 1765-ish, all these items had a distinctive feature: the rim top was always painted red. After that date, the rib has always been painted black.
Info snippet: Did you know... the Zia symbol for the sun is the symbol on the New Mexico state flag!!!
Zia pottery makers retain the designs and trends of their ancestors more than virtually any other Native American pottery makers.
San Juan Pueblo Native American Pottery:
Traditionally the pottery of San Juan has been plain polished red or polished black. Also traditional is the style of applying the polished slip, in either case to only the upper two-thirds of jars, and to only a band just below the rim on the exteriors of bowls. In both cases a line of demarcation between slip and paste can be clearly seen, with a resulting pattern of color that is pleasing. The rest of the surface is well-polished bare paste: a shade of orange-tan when the slip is red, and gray when the slip has been smudged black.
Santa Clara Native American Pottery:
Traditional Santa Clara pottery consists of highly polished, unpainted black or red vessels with relatively thick walls. Frequently the only form of decoration on these vessels is an impressed design in the shape of a bear paw, almost a Santa Clara trademark, a reference to the belief that once, during a drought, a bear led the Santa Clara people to water. This motif first appeared on vessels made in the later half of the 19th century. The bear paw is usually placed on jars in sets of three or more with no other decoration.
Departures from tradition are seen especially in the sculptural details that embellish a vessel. The rim is often rippled or fluted; the neck also may be rippled, with vertical or spiral carvings; and the mid body bulge may be sculptured.
Another ceramic form from Santa Clara is the wedding vase, which is a double-spouted jar with a connecting handle.
San Ildefonso Native American Pottery:
Early in the 20th century, San Ildefonso pottery first became famous as the source of black-on-black pottery, a type that was developed around 1919 by Maria Martinez and her husband, Julian.At San Ildefonso the making of pottery declined considerably until by 1830 its decorated ceramic output was limited to large storage jars and a few smaller jars. Most small vessels were imported, principally from Nambe Pueblo, which received food and other items in return. This situation persisted until about 1880, when San Ildefonso pottery making underwent a tremendous revitalization, sparked by the influx of tourists arriving on the new cross-country railroad. Indeed, 1880 is reckoned as the earliest date for San Ildefonso Polychrome...about 1918 they found that if an unfired polished red vessel was painted with a certain mineral paint on top of the polish and fired in a smudging fire at a relatively cool temperature the result would be a deep glossy black background with dull black decoration...soon after the technique was much copied, but Maria Martinez's family remained its master.
Zuni Native American Pottery:
The Zuni Pueblo is the largest of the New Mexico pueblos. Traditional Zuni pottery, much like Acoma pottery, has fine lines, complicated geometric patterns, the use of animal figures and thin walls. In the early 1700s, they switched to mineral matte paint for decoration. The Zuni produced a rare style of pottery, Zuni White-on-Red, a style that survived from thousands of years ago in which the entire surface was slipped in a reddish color and decorated with motifs in white paint. This style was produced to perhaps as late as 1900. Pieces range from a variety of bowl and jar forms. Recognizable motifs frequently depicted include deer and squat birds with long flowing tails.
Cochiti Native American Pottery:
Cochiti pottery is produced in a variety of forms, including items made in the shape of birds and human figures. Free-standing human figures are unique to Cochiti. Cochiti motifs are isolated decorations, often with little relation to one another. The lines are finer, giving the motifs a lighter appearance. A typical Cochiti feature is the habit of embellishing the encircling framing lines with pendant figures, usually simple arcs or triangles, but sometimes enigmatic, complicated adaptations of older feather motifs.
Taos/Picuris Native American Pottery:
Picuris and Taos have followed pottery traditions quite different from those of the other pueblos. Their utilitarian wares more closely resemble the nearby Apache pottery in being unpainted, unpolished, and decorated, if at all, only with such sculptural features as knobs, ribbons, or punching. The unpolished surfaces of the vessels were often intentionally roughened with combings or other striations, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some were constructed by pressing the clay into baskets, thus producing a characteristic surface that looks as though a corncob had been rolled over it. For perhaps a century little pottery has been manufactured at Taos Pueblos, while Picuris Pueblo has been a ceramic leader and even today produces small quantities of serviceable pottery. The Tewa Indians sometimes copied the style of Picuris and Taos but used a different clay and temper. At Taos and Picuris the clay is formed of decayed pre-Cambrian schist, filled with abundant flecks of mica throughout, while the Tewa achieved the same metallic luster by coating their clay with a thick, glittery finish. The surrounding villages of Spanish-Americans have often used and appreciated the utilitarian pottery from Picuris and Taos. Picuris pots are characterized by their mottled appearance, which varies from glittery orange metallic to almost black, while Taos pots are often more uniform in color.
Tesuque Native American Pottery:
In the middle of the 19th century, most Tesuque pottery was decorated with complex motifs loosely painted in black on a white slip and included a unique interlocking fret design.
Navajo Native American Pottery:
The Navajo have been making practical pottery for years. When metal utensils became available through trading posts, pottery production declined. One of their most popular pieces is the Navajo Wedding Vase.
Info snippet: Did you know... the godmother of the groom must make the Wedding Vase. She takes stones which are "holy" and dips them into water which is put into the vase for the reception...a real family effort!!!
By the 1920's, the most skilled Pueblo women potters were persuaded to sign their works. Indian pottery emerged as a new collectible and received endorsements from art and history museums. Pottery in the Pueblos is being used as an educational tool - one where knowledge of materials, design, processes and motifs are used to instruct and inform the future generations, ensuring that the old ways would not be forgotten and guaranteeing pottery prominence in Pueblo culture and art.
Historic pottery is difficult to find. Most pottery had been used in funeral ceremonies and burried. The collision of the Spaniards and the American Pueblo Indians resulted not only in significant restriction in the usage of pottery but also in the disappearance of most of the pottery in the two hundred years of the Historic period. Owing to the orthodoxy of Church authorities, Pueblo Indians were refused the right to bury pottery with their dead in accordance with ancient custom. Instead they were forced to have Christian burials in cemeteries. Consequently, there are almost no Historic vessels preserved in the relative security of old graves…The significance of the Spanish ban on burial of pottery with Indian dead cannot be over emphasized. It is likely that all Prehistoric pottery had some religious aspects, as its burial signifies. But when burial pottery was prohibited, the Pueblo Indians were forced to concentrate on making pottery exclusively for utilitarian purposes such as storage of grain and water, cooking, etc., while only a small number of vessels were created - in secrecy- for strictly ceremonial use.
If Native American Pottery is of interest for either buying or collecting, become familiar with it. Visit museums to study the various forms, materials, tribal affiliations and designs. Go to art shows that showcase Native American artisans. Antique shows are also a good venue - go through the booths of vendors selling these items. If they are passionate about what they have, they will answer your questions.And, of course, inter-tribal powwows are excellent venues to look and ask. You can also go the The Indian Arts and Crafts Association for a listing of registered and certified Native American Artisans. Above all, any art form being marketed as a genuine Native American handcrafted item must legally be just that. The spirit of the law is that any artwork or craft fashioned by a Native American, the artisan must be a member of an Indian Tribe, and their membership has been verified and certified. These Native American artisans are practicing their art perhaps as a livelihood. And, through their art, they are keeping their culture, history and spirituality alive. Native American Arts has free e-books covering the subjects of Collecting and Fraudulence that are excellent!
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