Large Zuni Polychrome Olla, c.1910

Item: AOPT5004C
Material: native clay and pigments
Size: 13 1/2" x 11" Mouth Diameter 7"
Period: Historic
Origin: Zuni Pueblo

This is a larger than average Zuni polychrome olla from the beginning of the 20th century. The jar features an elaborate and highly abstracted rain bird design that is repeated across the mid body. The large swirl in the center of the design represents both the curved beak of a bird and the open eye of a bird. The triangular motifs give more shape to the birds head but can also be seen as wings. Using this abstraction the design above the mid body can also be deciphered as abstracted avian elements. More obvious stylized birds are repeated in a horizontal band separating the mid body from the base. Bird motifs are important to the Zuni as they are seen as the carriers of the peoples prayers to the sky/ancestors for rain and fertility.

SOLD

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