March 4th, 2021: Work on the Railroad, 1880-1930

In the 1880s, the railway was expanding across the United States, bringing changes throughout the country, especially to the Southwest. The trains brought tourists, salespeople and settlers, an influx of new materials, and a new market for artists.

Potters at Cochiti Pueblo began creating large human figures in clay and selling them to visitors. Remarkable for their innovative and technical design, they were representations of the outsiders arriving via the railroad, circus performers, opera singers, travelers and tourists. The Cochiti “mono” featured here is most likely a spectator, his houndstooth waistcoat and hobnail boots rendered in slip, and his pipe firmly clenched between his teeth, a somewhat quizzical expression on his face.

This week, we present a selection of objects produced between 1880-1930, in which Native artists of the Southwest were responding to a rapidly changing reality by using innovative techniques and materials.