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Olla (water jar)

Native American, A:shiwi (Zuni)
about 1880
Object Place: Zuni, New Mexico, United States, Southwest

Medium/Technique Earthenware with red, brown, and black slip paint
Dimensions Overall: 27.9 x 33 cm (11 x 13 in.)
Credit Line Everett Fund
Accession Number87.25
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramicsPotteryEarthenware
This polychrome jar represents many of the distinguishing characteristics of A:shiwi (Zuni) pottery as it had evolved by the second half of the nineteenth century. Made of a whiteish clay, the pot is brightly painted in red, brown, and black against a ground of white slip. It bears a fine rendition of the A:shiwi rainbird symbol, the highly abstract motif that dominates its body and that was used repeatedly in this conventionalized form on A:shiwi pottery by the late nineteenth century. Ancient in origin, the elements of the rainbird motif, including the coil (sometimes containing a small dot or circle suggesting a bird's eye), fretwork, and stepped designs, may initially have served as a form of symbolism referencing birds, feathers, clouds, and rain, as well as ceremonial bows, feathers, drumsticks, and other objets.

“Olla (water jar)” in MFA Highlights: Native American Art by Gerald W. R. Ward, Pamela A. Parmal, Michael Suing, Heather Hole, And Jennifer Swope (Boston: MFA Publications, 2010), 86-87.

DescriptionThis large piece was badly broken and lined with plaster, but it was repaired and is now new looking. The water jar is painted with red and black geometric designs on an off-white slip ground. A brown band encircles the interior of the rim. The interior of the vessel has not been decorated.
ProvenanceAbout 1884/1885, acquired in New Mexico by Clarence Pullen (b. 1850 - d. 1902), Boston; 1887, sold by Clarence Pullen to Charles Greely Loring (b. 1828 - d. 1902), Boston, for the MFA. (Accession Date: April 21, 1887)

NOTE: This is one of fifteen pieces acquired in 1887 for $100. Pullen was surveyor general of New Mexico from 1884 until 1885.