Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1880
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 8¼ in (21 cm); diameter 8½ in (21.6 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, NM, prior to 1950
Zuni pottery of the late nineteenth century is distinguished by its white slip ground and the use of bold black mineral pigment to render complex figurative and geometric imagery, drawing on a visual tradition deeply rooted in Pueblo cosmology and ceremonial life. The serpent is among the most persistent and significant motifs in Zuni ceramic decoration, associated with water, rain, and the forces that sustain agricultural communities in the arid Southwest. This olla carries a large serpent rendered in confident black line work across the body of the vessel, the head depicted with open mouth and visible eye, alongside tadpole forms that reinforce the water-related iconographic program.
The neck is encircled by a scallop or feather band in black on white, a common framing device in Zuni olla decoration of this period that establishes a visual threshold between the neck and the body of the vessel. The overall surface retains the pale cream slip characteristic of Zuni work of the 1880s, with honest age and use wear consistent with a vessel of domestic or ceremonial origin. The Albuquerque private collection provenance predating 1950 indicates an early collecting history and removes this piece from the post-ARPA regulatory environment entirely.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1880
Ceramic, white slip, mineral pigment
Height 8¼ in (21 cm); diameter 8½ in (21.6 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Albuquerque, NM, prior to 1950
Zuni pottery of the late nineteenth century is distinguished by its white slip ground and the use of bold black mineral pigment to render complex figurative and geometric imagery, drawing on a visual tradition deeply rooted in Pueblo cosmology and ceremonial life. The serpent is among the most persistent and significant motifs in Zuni ceramic decoration, associated with water, rain, and the forces that sustain agricultural communities in the arid Southwest. This olla carries a large serpent rendered in confident black line work across the body of the vessel, the head depicted with open mouth and visible eye, alongside tadpole forms that reinforce the water-related iconographic program.
The neck is encircled by a scallop or feather band in black on white, a common framing device in Zuni olla decoration of this period that establishes a visual threshold between the neck and the body of the vessel. The overall surface retains the pale cream slip characteristic of Zuni work of the 1880s, with honest age and use wear consistent with a vessel of domestic or ceremonial origin. The Albuquerque private collection provenance predating 1950 indicates an early collecting history and removes this piece from the post-ARPA regulatory environment entirely.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
