Ancestral Pueblo, Mesa Verde region, Colorado
1100 CE
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 4 in (10.2 cm); diameter 4.1 in (10.4 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. 3.41
Mesa Verde Black-on-white cylindrical mugs represent one of the most recognizable vessel forms of the Ancestral Pueblo tradition, produced in the Four Corners region during the Pueblo II and III periods and found in both domestic and mortuary contexts across the Colorado Plateau. This example is decorated with dense, all-over geometric patterning in black mineral pigment on white slip, incorporating stepped zigzag forms, interlocking fret elements, and hatch-filled zones that cover the full body of the vessel with compositional intensity. The robust strap handle is a characteristic feature of the Mesa Verde mug form, distinguishing it from the handleless cylindrical vessels produced elsewhere in the Ancestral Pueblo world.
The surface retains the original matte mineral pigment with strong contrast and the tonal variation characteristic of hand-ground mineral paints applied to a white slip ground. Mesa Verde mugs of this decorative density are among the most studied vessel forms in Southwestern 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. 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 Ancestral Pueblo 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 4 in (10.2 cm); diameter 4.1 in (10.4 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. 3.41
Mesa Verde Black-on-white cylindrical mugs represent one of the most recognizable vessel forms of the Ancestral Pueblo tradition, produced in the Four Corners region during the Pueblo II and III periods and found in both domestic and mortuary contexts across the Colorado Plateau. This example is decorated with dense, all-over geometric patterning in black mineral pigment on white slip, incorporating stepped zigzag forms, interlocking fret elements, and hatch-filled zones that cover the full body of the vessel with compositional intensity. The robust strap handle is a characteristic feature of the Mesa Verde mug form, distinguishing it from the handleless cylindrical vessels produced elsewhere in the Ancestral Pueblo world.
The surface retains the original matte mineral pigment with strong contrast and the tonal variation characteristic of hand-ground mineral paints applied to a white slip ground. Mesa Verde mugs of this decorative density are among the most studied vessel forms in Southwestern 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. 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 Ancestral Pueblo material. Not recovered from Federal or State land.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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