Old Acoma Pueblo Indian Pottery Olla/Anasazi-Santa Fe

Fine old olla or large seed jar from the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico, dating to the early 20th century and decorated with Anasazi style designs.

This piece measures about 8.25" in diameter at it's widest, and is about 6" tall.

The olla weighs 2 lbs. 4.oz. and will be carefully packed and double-boxed for safe arrival to it's new owner.

This piece is quite old and my best guess would be that it dates from 1895 - 1920.

This piece is a bit unusual for Acoma pottery, in both form and decoration. The body is very rounded and has a small opening at the top, with a short raised rim. This form, as well as the painted design, can often be seen on Anasazi seed and storage jars, and the maker of this piece was probably influenced by earlier ancient Anasazi examples. In fact, if you search for "Chaco Pottery Canteen" on Google, you will see a similar, but ancient, example of an Anasazi canteen.

This piece is very distinctly of Acoma manufacture, as can be seen by the surface patina, the color and texture of the white slip, and the slightly indented red-painted bottom and inner part of the top rim.

This piece is quite old and has no restoration, however it has developed several old tight hairlines extending downward from the top rim, as well as several small chips to the top rim. These age conditions can be addressed by a pottery restorer or conservator and the hairlines can be stabilized, if desired. The chips to the rim can also be restored, if desired.

That being said, the piece displays very nicely just as it is, and the surface of the olla has developed a beautiful age patina, as you can see in the photographs.

This piece has some indications of actually being used ethnographically, such as the small lime deposits and wear to the top rim, so it may have been made for use at the Acoma Pueblo, used for some time, and then was later sold.