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| 011 Acoma Pueblo, c. 1890 - 1900 |
 Acoma Pueblo is one of about twenty Indian villages in New Mexico and Arizona. Established in about 1300, Acoma has a long and distinguished history of superb pottery making. Traditional jars and bowls are formed of the finest clay, tempered with crushed fragments of older vessels to preserve continuity of spirit, painted with the available earth pigments, and fired to ringing hardness on the open ground with slabs of fuel piled around. This fine large jar, made circa 1895, is covered with designs of long-standing significance. The use of both orange and red in the checkerboard pattern of the neck demonstrates a combination of pigments that requires especially skillful handling. Around the body of the jar lies a dynamic and flowing alternation of diagonal structures composed of traditional checkerboards, very fine and even crosshatchure, blankly staring eyes, ¡Èrabbit-ear" appendages, and bold spikes that proclaim the strength and power of sure and confident artistry. Between the two bands of design lie a pair of broad black lines, severed in one place around the circumference by a clean break that has much sacred significance. The bottom has been covered with red clay slip, which turns to warm reddish brown during the firing process. This example exhibits traditional Acoma pottery at its finest.
-- FRANCIS H. HARLOW, LOS ALAMOS |
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