Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1890
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 6¾ in (17.1 cm); diameter 8 in (20.3 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Connecticut
The heartline deer is among the most distinctive and widely recognized motifs in Zuni ceramic painting, depicting a deer in profile with an arrow or line running from the mouth to the heart, symbolizing the life force of the animal and its relationship to the hunter and the community. This olla carries multiple deer figures rendered in bold black mineral pigment on white slip across the lower body of the vessel, accompanied by hummingbird forms and stylized plant or flower elements that complete the figurative program. The upper register features red-orange hatched triangular panels at the shoulder, a decorative device common in Zuni ollas of the 1880s and 1890s that provides a visual transition between the neck and the figurative body.
The composition is organized with the clarity and confidence characteristic of accomplished Zuni ceramic painters of the late nineteenth century, balancing the figurative elements with negative space in a way that gives each figure room and presence. The white slip ground retains the warm cream tone and surface variation characteristic of hand-prepared Zuni clay of this period, with honest age and wear throughout. The Connecticut private collection provenance reflects the dispersal of Southwestern material into East Coast collections through trade and estate channels during the early twentieth century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1890
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 6¾ in (17.1 cm); diameter 8 in (20.3 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Connecticut
The heartline deer is among the most distinctive and widely recognized motifs in Zuni ceramic painting, depicting a deer in profile with an arrow or line running from the mouth to the heart, symbolizing the life force of the animal and its relationship to the hunter and the community. This olla carries multiple deer figures rendered in bold black mineral pigment on white slip across the lower body of the vessel, accompanied by hummingbird forms and stylized plant or flower elements that complete the figurative program. The upper register features red-orange hatched triangular panels at the shoulder, a decorative device common in Zuni ollas of the 1880s and 1890s that provides a visual transition between the neck and the figurative body.
The composition is organized with the clarity and confidence characteristic of accomplished Zuni ceramic painters of the late nineteenth century, balancing the figurative elements with negative space in a way that gives each figure room and presence. The white slip ground retains the warm cream tone and surface variation characteristic of hand-prepared Zuni clay of this period, with honest age and wear throughout. The Connecticut private collection provenance reflects the dispersal of Southwestern material into East Coast collections through trade and estate channels during the early twentieth century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
