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DESCRIPTION: A striking Acoma pottery olla with dramatic traditional graphics in white, black and orange. This greenware olla is skillfully painted in traditional designs including hatched (symbolizing rain), stepped (representing clouds) and curvilinear, with distinctive "heartline" deer figures and bold flowers. These designs speak of water, fertility, the life cycle, the earth and sky, and their interrelationships to each other. The concave bottom is signed, "Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, Louise Amos." C. 1980 and in very good condition with no chips. Please see the last photo for a size comparison with our other Acoma pottery pieces in our Santa Fe gallery; this olla is centered in the front middle. DIMENSIONS: 8 1/2" high (21.6 cm) x 9 3/4" diameter (24.7 cm).
ABOUT ACOMA POTTERY: Thin, hand fired walls (a common and sought after characteristic of Acoma pottery), light weight, and geometric designs characterize Acoma pottery. The Acoma Pueblo, also known as "Sky City," is located 50 miles west of Albuquerque near Enchanted Mesa, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited sites in North America. The area is home to particularly good clay, which potters mix with a temper of crushed potsherds. This results in the ability to produce very thin and lightweight, yet strong pottery. Traditional designs range from complex geometrics to abstract animal, floral and figurative forms. Coloration consists predominantly of black and white, or black, white and orange although other colors also appear infrequently. Acoma clay is grey in color and potters achieve their white surface with a slip of kaolin, a naturally occurring chalky material that is a brilliant white. Black can be made from crushed iron-rich hematite and/or the liquid from boiled wild spinach, which are often mixed together.
Stock #W-PT12 |
