Historic Picuris Cooking Pot, 19th century

Item: 978

Origin: Picuris Pueblo
Date: Circa 1880

Media: Clay

Dimensions: 9.25″ tall,  9″ diameter

Description: This old cooking jar has great wear and patina to it.  There is an overall golden hue that sometimes shows strong, and other times sits below the black hiding itself.  The angle of light and where one looks all determines what sort of color mixture you’ll get.  The crenulated top  reminds me of Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) jars.  The clay used here is micaceous, which is great for cooking as these flakes give the pot a greater ability to handle heat.  The hole in the bottom appears like a kill hole, but this is from the wrong culture and not prehistoric so I imagine it happened some other way.  The hole has very worn edges suggesting it happened a long time ago.

Restoration: No restoration on this jar.

Provenance:  From an old collection in Kansas.

Price: SOLD