Zuni, Southwest
1870 to 1880
Painted pottery
Height 8 1/4" (21 cm); diameter 11 1/2" (29.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Olympia, Washington; reportedly purchased after being brought into a local Seattle antique shop by a family who had inherited it
Known within the collection as the "Olympia" Zuni Olla after its Washington State provenance, this vessel from the 1870 to 1880 period presents a well documented example of Zuni pottery at a high point in the tradition. The brown-painted rim around the opening, the puki impression on the underbody, and the heartline deer imagery are all consistent with Zuni ceramics of this date. Across the body, the paneled composition combines heartline deer, small red birds with hooked tails, and carefully controlled linear decoration in a dense but balanced arrangement.
The heartline animal motif belongs to a Zuni visual language in which painted forms carried meaning beyond ornament. John G. Bourke recorded in 1881 that the line running from the animal's mouth toward its heart was understood as a form of prayer connected to the spirit of the animal, a reading that gives the imagery on this vessel particular historical resonance. A comparable Zuni olla from the George Terasaki collection sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2019, providing a useful market reference for vessels of this type and period.
The vessel retains its original surface, wear, and patina consistent with long preservation in a private collection, with no visible restoration or intervention. The rounded form gives the painted surface a broad and continuous field that allows the paneled design to be read clearly from multiple angles. The Olympia, Washington provenance, with its documented transfer through a Seattle antique shop from an inheriting family, places this olla within the category of early privately held Zuni ceramics that entered non-indigenous collections in the late 19th or early 20th century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni, Southwest
1870 to 1880
Painted pottery
Height 8 1/4" (21 cm); diameter 11 1/2" (29.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Olympia, Washington; reportedly purchased after being brought into a local Seattle antique shop by a family who had inherited it
Known within the collection as the "Olympia" Zuni Olla after its Washington State provenance, this vessel from the 1870 to 1880 period presents a well documented example of Zuni pottery at a high point in the tradition. The brown-painted rim around the opening, the puki impression on the underbody, and the heartline deer imagery are all consistent with Zuni ceramics of this date. Across the body, the paneled composition combines heartline deer, small red birds with hooked tails, and carefully controlled linear decoration in a dense but balanced arrangement.
The heartline animal motif belongs to a Zuni visual language in which painted forms carried meaning beyond ornament. John G. Bourke recorded in 1881 that the line running from the animal's mouth toward its heart was understood as a form of prayer connected to the spirit of the animal, a reading that gives the imagery on this vessel particular historical resonance. A comparable Zuni olla from the George Terasaki collection sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2019, providing a useful market reference for vessels of this type and period.
The vessel retains its original surface, wear, and patina consistent with long preservation in a private collection, with no visible restoration or intervention. The rounded form gives the painted surface a broad and continuous field that allows the paneled design to be read clearly from multiple angles. The Olympia, Washington provenance, with its documented transfer through a Seattle antique shop from an inheriting family, places this olla within the category of early privately held Zuni ceramics that entered non-indigenous collections in the late 19th or early 20th century.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
