Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs

Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs

Public Domain

Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
CultureAcoma
Titles
  • Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
Date1875–1885
PlaceAcoma Pueblo, New Mexico, United States
MediumEarthenware with slip
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/4 × 14 1/2 in. (28.6 × 36.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object number44.17
Not on view

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Object Type
Description

The Zuni people believed that frogs, tadpoles, hummingbirds, and dragonflies forecasted rain and water, which were precious natural forces in an arid land. Hummingbirds were related to agricultural fertility because they drink flower nectar and spread pollen. Their bright plumage was associated with rainbows.


 In the late 19th century, the Zuni Pueblo of New Mexico reached the height of artistry in its pottery making. Zuni vessels were decorated with rhythmical repetition of geometric designs, expressed with lines rather than solid painting. The outlines were often filled with hatching, a pattern of parallel or crossed lines. Sacred figural images were typically used on jars consecrated for religious ceremonies and kept in buildings called kivas.  Tourist demand for these kiva jars led to the creation of vessels like this one, decorated with religious symbols but not blessed or used ritually.


 A ceremonial break—a short interruption of the lines that separate the neck from the rest of the vessel—is a characteristic of Zuni pottery. A Zuni legend warned that a potter would die if the line were not broken. The break also prevented the potter's spirit from being trapped in the vessel.


 


Provenance[Spanish and Indian Trading Co., Santa Fe]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg (1882–1975), Houston, by 1944; given to MFAH, 1944.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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photographed after 2006 treatment
1898–1900
Earthenware with slip
44.19
photographed after 2006 treatment
1875–1885
Earthenware with slip
44.18
photograph taken by conservation following 2006 treatment
1890–1910
Earthenware with slip
44.11
Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
1900–1920
Earthenware with slip
44.24
Jar (Olla) with Traditional Abstract Plant and Geometric Designs
Maria Martinez
1910–1920
Earthenware with slip
44.80
Jar (Olla) with Abstract Feather and Plant Designs
1885–1895
Earthenware with slip
44.74
Jar (Olla) with Gemoetric and Abstract Designs
1900–1920
Earthenware with slip
44.25
Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
1895–1900
Earthenware with slip
44.20
Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
1885–1900
Earthenware with slip
44.31
Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
1860-1870
Earthenware with slip
44.41
photographed by conservation following 2006 treatment
1890–1910
Earthenware with slip
44.12
Jar (Olla) with Geometric and Abstract Designs
1880–1900
Earthenware with slip
44.91