Singing the Clay: Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest Yesterday and Today
A Traveling Exhibition from the Cincinnati Art Museum
5 April - 10 August 1997
Extraordinary efforts are being made today to preserve and carry on Native American cultural traditions. This exhibition respects the dual need to honor artistic achievements of the past and to demonstrate the continuity and vitality of contemporary artistic expressions.
There are about 20 Pueblo Indian groups today, with a total population of about 50,000. While they are modern people, Pueblo Indians also successfully continue with their own established social values, religious institutions, and artistic traditions. One of the most enduring Pueblo artistic traditions is the creation of beautiful pottery vessels that provide both a link to the past and a symbol of a dynamic future.
Their homeland, and that of their ancestors (the Anasazi), is the southwestern part of the United States, including what is now New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Utah. Most tribal members live in their villages, called pueblos, which are situated along the Rio Grande River and its tributaries from Taos to south of Albuquerque, New Mexico; westward to the pueblos of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni; and even further west to the Hopi villages located in northeastern Arizona.
PUEBLO SITE MAP
The diversity of these Native American peoples and the continuation of centuries-old cultural traditions is evident in this exhibition of beautifully made and painted pottery vessels and figures from 12 pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona.
THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition, curated by Bill Mercer, is on loan from the Cincinnati Art Museum. It is comprised primarily of 111 pieces, which date from 1850 to 1960, taken mainly from the Cincinnati Art Museum's collections. In addition, the curator complemented these with 37 newly and carefully acquired contemporary pueblo pieces.
Pottery vessels illustrated below are from the exhibition catalogue, by Bill Mercer, and published by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
ACOMA
Both ca. 1900. Height 12 1/4 inches (left) and 10 1/2 inches (right).
Acoma pottery is noted for its thin walls and light weight. Acoma vessels are decorated with complex geometric and curvilinear polychrome designs carefully painted on a white slip background.
COCHITI
Both 1994. Height 12 3/4 inches (left) and 8 3/4 inches (right).
Cochiti pottery is produced in a variety of forms, including vessels made in the shape of birds and human figures. Free-standing human figures are unique to Cochiti.
HOPI
Ca. 1900. Height 7 inches.
Since the end of the 19th century, the predominant type of Hopi pottery includes shallow bowls, cylindrical jars, and flat, low-slung jars with a short neck. These unique forms are painted with abstracted bird, feather, and cloud designs on an unslipped surface that ranges from yellow to a deep, warm orange.
LAGUNA
Ca. 1850 (left) and ca. 1890 (right). Height 9 1/4 inches (left) and 8 3/4 inches (right).
Laguna pottery is similar to Acoma pottery. This is not surprising since the two villages are located only a few miles apart. One potentially distinguishing characteristic of Laguna pottery is the use of comparatively large painted designs that interlock and completely encircle the vessel.
SAN ILDEFONSO
- Left - Maria Martinez: Black-on-Black Jar, ca. 1940, height 3 1/2 inches.
- Center - Santana Martinez: Black-on-Black Jar, ca. 1930, height 5 1/4 inches.
- Right - Maria and Santana Martinez: Black-on-Black Plate, ca. 1945, diameter 14 3/4 inches.
Early in the 20th century, San Ildefonso pottery first became famous as the source of black-on-black pottery, a type that was developed around 1919 by Maria Martinez and her husband, Julian.
SANTA CLARA
Left - Autumn Borts: Polished Blackware Jar, 1994, height 11 3/8 inches.
Right: Linda Cain: Carved Redware Jar, 1994, height 10 inches.
Traditional Santa Clara pottery consists of highly polished, unpainted black or red vessels with relatively thick walls. Frequently the only form of decoration on these vessels is an impressed design in the shape of a bear paw, a reference to the belief that once, during a drought, a bear led the Santa Clara people to water.
SANTO DOMINGO
Ca. 1880. Diameter 16 inches.
The style of Santo Domingo pottery has remained quite constant since the 1700s. Characteristic forms include large, thick-walled jars and monumental bowls. The designs painted on Santo Domingo pottery are primarily black geometric elements painted on a cream-colored slip. Frequently these remarkable bold designs are painted so that the cream-colored slip reveals a second "negative" design.
TAOS / PICURIS
Left - Annette Duran: Micaceous Bowl, 1994, diameter 12 inches.
Right - Rita Donna Martinez: Micaceous Jar, 1994, height 9 3/4 inches.
The most distinctive feature of traditional pottery created at Taos and nearby Picuris Pueblos is the micaceous clay from which it is fashioned. The clay is naturally filled with flecks of mica which, after firing, has a sparkling orange-brown appearance often marked by sooty black areas called fire clouds. Micaceous pottery is not painted.
TESUQUE
Ca. 1880. Height 6 1/2 inches.
In the middle of the 19th century, most Tesuque pottery was decorated with complex motifs loosely painted in black on a white slip and included a unique interlocking fret design.
ZIA
Ca. 1900. Height 10 3/4 inches.
Traditional Zia pottery consists of high-shouldered jars and bowls created in a variety of sizes. The most characteristic design is a distinctive style of bird with a straight beak and bent legs that potters identify as a roadrunner.
ZUNI
Ca. 1930. Height 20 1/2 inches.
Traditional Zuni pottery includes a variety of bowl and jar forms. Recognizable motifs frequently depicted include deer and squat birds with long flowing tails.