Early Zuni Bowl Circa 1830

Item: 1888

Origins: Zuni
Date:  Circa 1830

Media: Clay

Dimensions: 13 3/4″ diameter, 6 1/2″ tall

Description: This is a great and early bowl.   The shape is exquisite, with a full, rotund exterior coming up off of a puki flexure within the red underbody. The exterior is decorated with abstract feather designs. The variations to their sizes and whether they are solid or hollow adds a fine level of detail and gives the overall composition a fine and beautiful look. The interior of the bowl is decorated with the rainbird design. It is a series of two birds, discernible by the spiral and the eye towards the end of the spiral.  The birds bodies are migrating mazes filled with hatchwork. The rim of the bowl is one of the keys to its early age with an inset on the interior of the rim. From the outside, the rim begins to have a bit of an out flare, which adds a beautiful form for the finishing of the top of the bowl.   The interior rim is decorated in four quadrants with feathers on each side of a rectangle divided into four triangles, making the shape of an “X” in its center.

The qualities that make this an early bowl are the red base, a feature that turned to black by around 1860, the rim treatment as earlier mentioned, and the overall designs used.  The use of the feather and the way it is formed is also a call back to the earlier Ashewoggooo period of the late 18th century.

Condition:  The bowl has no cracks (other than superficially crazing), no breaks but it does have some minor overpaint in areas on both the exterior and interior.  There is one rim chip that was restored long ago and is not visible except for by blue light.

Provenance: A private collection in Alburquerque, previously owned by Chris Selser.

Price: On Hold