Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1890s
Pottery, mineral pigments
Height 6 in. (15.2 cm); diameter 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm)
Provenance: Flarsheim Collection, Chicago, Illinois
Frog effigy vessels are among the most distinctive ceramic forms produced at Zuni Pueblo, combining three-dimensional modeled frogs applied to the exterior with painted decoration covering the body of the jar. The frog holds a prominent place in Zuni ceremonial life as a rain-bringing creature associated with water, fertility, and the prayers offered during home ceremonies, and vessels of this type were used as repositories for sacred corn meal. This jar features four applied polychrome frogs encircling the shoulder, with painted figures including a large frog and dragonfly rendered in brown on the cream slip body.
The vessel form is a rounded jar with a wide shoulder and dark-fired rim, consistent with Zuni production of the 1890s. The combination of modeled and painted frog imagery on a single vessel reflects the depth of the frog's ceremonial significance within Zuni culture and the integration of that symbolism into the material culture of daily and ritual life. The piece comes from the Flarsheim Collection, Chicago.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1890s
Pottery, mineral pigments
Height 6 in. (15.2 cm); diameter 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm)
Provenance: Flarsheim Collection, Chicago, Illinois
Frog effigy vessels are among the most distinctive ceramic forms produced at Zuni Pueblo, combining three-dimensional modeled frogs applied to the exterior with painted decoration covering the body of the jar. The frog holds a prominent place in Zuni ceremonial life as a rain-bringing creature associated with water, fertility, and the prayers offered during home ceremonies, and vessels of this type were used as repositories for sacred corn meal. This jar features four applied polychrome frogs encircling the shoulder, with painted figures including a large frog and dragonfly rendered in brown on the cream slip body.
The vessel form is a rounded jar with a wide shoulder and dark-fired rim, consistent with Zuni production of the 1890s. The combination of modeled and painted frog imagery on a single vessel reflects the depth of the frog's ceremonial significance within Zuni culture and the integration of that symbolism into the material culture of daily and ritual life. The piece comes from the Flarsheim Collection, Chicago.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
