Ancestral Pueblo, Mesa Verde region, Colorado
1100 CE
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 5½ in (14 cm); diameter 5 in (12.7 cm), excluding handle
Provenance: Fred Lau, Paradise Valley, AZ; Billy Schenck, Santa Fe, NM
Published: Women Artists of the Ancient Southwest, Schenck Southwest Publishing, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2024, p. 3.40
The cylindrical mug with a single handle is one of the most distinctive vessel forms associated with the Mesa Verde region of the Four Corners, produced by Ancestral Pueblo potters during the Pueblo II and III periods and found in both domestic and ceremonial contexts at sites across the Colorado Plateau. Mesa Verde Black-on-white ware is characterized by its dense mineral paint decoration applied to a white slip ground, with bold geometric motifs — triangles, zigzags, stepped forms, and hatch-filled zones — organized across the vessel surface with strong compositional clarity. This example carries large triangular zigzag forms and vertical line hatching that demonstrate the confident geometric vocabulary of Mesa Verde ceramic painters working at the height of the tradition.
The vessel retains its original surface with the matte mineral paint and white slip characteristic of the type, showing honest age and wear consistent with an object of this period and origin. Mesa Verde mugs are among the most studied vessel forms in Ancestral Pueblo archaeology, and this example has been published in Women Artists of the Ancient Southwest (Schenck Southwest Publishing, Santa Fe, 2024), placing it within the scholarly record of the tradition. The provenance from Fred Lau in Paradise Valley and Billy Schenck in Santa Fe gives the piece a documented collecting history through two serious collectors of Southwestern material. Not recovered from Federal or State land.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Ancestral Pueblo, Mesa Verde region, Colorado
1100 CE
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 5½ in (14 cm); diameter 5 in (12.7 cm), excluding handle
Provenance: Fred Lau, Paradise Valley, AZ; Billy Schenck, Santa Fe, NM
Published: Women Artists of the Ancient Southwest, Schenck Southwest Publishing, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2024, p. 3.40
The cylindrical mug with a single handle is one of the most distinctive vessel forms associated with the Mesa Verde region of the Four Corners, produced by Ancestral Pueblo potters during the Pueblo II and III periods and found in both domestic and ceremonial contexts at sites across the Colorado Plateau. Mesa Verde Black-on-white ware is characterized by its dense mineral paint decoration applied to a white slip ground, with bold geometric motifs — triangles, zigzags, stepped forms, and hatch-filled zones — organized across the vessel surface with strong compositional clarity. This example carries large triangular zigzag forms and vertical line hatching that demonstrate the confident geometric vocabulary of Mesa Verde ceramic painters working at the height of the tradition.
The vessel retains its original surface with the matte mineral paint and white slip characteristic of the type, showing honest age and wear consistent with an object of this period and origin. Mesa Verde mugs are among the most studied vessel forms in Ancestral Pueblo archaeology, and this example has been published in Women Artists of the Ancient Southwest (Schenck Southwest Publishing, Santa Fe, 2024), placing it within the scholarly record of the tradition. The provenance from Fred Lau in Paradise Valley and Billy Schenck in Santa Fe gives the piece a documented collecting history through two serious collectors of Southwestern material. Not recovered from Federal or State land.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Image 1 of 5
Image 2 of 5
Image 3 of 5
Image 4 of 5
Image 5 of 5