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| 022 Zuni Pueblo, c.1900 |
 Every detail of surface finish comes alive in the precise depiction of a Zuni jar that was fashioned with loving care for carrying water. Worn with use, the rim shows erosion that occurred as the jar sacrificed itself for the tasks at hand. The decorations on this jar range freely across the whole surface, with no confinement into neck and body bands, as occurs on the Zuni jar illustrated in Fig. 5. As on that jar we see here, also, the joyful use of crosshatchure. Great arms curve around the upper areas and end with angular hands that reach toward the sky, in a manner whose origins can be traced back to more than a century earlier. Between the arms there is a bold, triangular mountain, with an inverted triangle joined at its apex. The linear checkerboards contained in each have likewise deep roots in tradition. Here and there lie sacred feather symbols, identified by being the only design elements with red. There are interesting variations among these feathers; those that nestle in angular crooks have split bodies and wear a variety of caps, while those that are attached to the undersides of the arms have unsplit bodies, the classic style of a single black triangular cap, and an attached flag-like embellishment. Easily overlooked is the pair of little bumps at the highest crook between the arms. This feature occurs on so many examples of Pueblo Indian pottery that we know it must be important, but its significance is lost in the shadows of history to all but the artists.
--Francis H. Harlow, Los Alamos |
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