Burnished Birds and Black Bears: Pueblo Pottery 1880-1930

Around 1930, a middle aged woman sitting in the sun outside of her home in Zuni set down her yucca fiber brush and stretched her hands out. The beautifully formed pot sitting on the packed earth beside her was not one of her largest ollas, but carried the unmistakable brush work that made her the most renowned potter of her community and known by her name: Tsayutitsa. Bulbous and beautifully formed, the olla was one of hundreds of pots made over a long career that responded to the voracious demand by outsiders for Pueblo pottery.

While Native peoples of the Southwest have been making pottery for thousands of years, the latter half of the 19th century ushered in a period of unprecedented production, mostly responding to outside interests.
Initially spurred by ethnologists and institutions, as well as the railroad passing directly through many Pueblos, by the 1930’s the demand for Pueblo pottery was propelled by travelers and tourists to the Southwest and represented a valuable activity for Native communities.

Shiprock Santa Fe is pleased to present an exceptional new collection of painted Pueblo pottery from a local collector, ranging from 1880’s-1930’s.