Native American, Southwestern United States, Four Corners region, New Mexico, Chaco Canyon area, ca. 1050 to 1200 CE. A superb pottery olla boasting a simple yet elegant form of a hemispherical body with impressively thin walls that span out to a wide shoulder and then inward to an annular rim above a deep basin, all sitting upon a rounded base. Skillfully hand-painted with black-on-white decoration, the exterior of the dish presents 2 horizontal registers of 6 interlocking pairs of steppe motif, one of which is painted completely black, while the other is filled with a series of parallel, diagonal striations. These mesmerizing patterns are intended to represent the union of earth and sky, with the striped steppe motif as the earth and the black symbolizing the sky. They have also been considered to be the Ancestral Puebloan equivalent of Yin and Yang indicating balance and harmony in nature via combined male and female elements. Size: 11.25" Diameter x 9.5" H (28.6 cm x 24.1 cm)

The mouth of the vessel is additionally decorated with a series of petite, vertical dashes.

Pottery of this kind is some of the most important found in the ancient Southwest. The Chaco Project, the major excavations of Chaco Canyon (today a National Historical Park that is well worth a visit), recovered more of this pottery than any other style. Chaco was the center of the ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) culture, a vast city of monumental architecture, including massive stone Great Houses of multiple stories and kivas of all sizes. Roads from Chaco Canyon radiated to outlying settlements for hundreds of miles, and it seems to have been a religious, social, and trade hub for a vast region. Today many Native peoples in the Southwest connect their own histories to Chaco, seeing it as a stop along their sacred migrations.

Provenance: private Pennsylvania, USA collection, acquired July 16, 2003

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#164450

Some minor nicks, abrasions, and pitting, all commensurate with age. Areas of fire darkening and light staining. A small area of restoration over a stable fissure visible on interior. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice pigments and impressive detail.