of globular form; painted with terraced elements and stylized birds situated within circles, height 9.5 in. x diameter 11 in.
ca 1890
Published:Harlow, Anderson and Lanmon.
The Pottery of Santa Ana Pueblo (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005), p. 103, fig 6.27."This jar belongs to a group identified as "Group A" by Harlow, Anderson, and Lanmon, in their book, The Pottery of Santa Ana Pueblo (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005), Chapter 6. Pottery jars of this group feature bands of prominent red figures with negative (open) areas, usually with some of the edges ofthe red not outlined with black. The most characteristic figure is the so-called Eiffel Tower structure that occurs with little variation on numerous jars of Group A (and sen on this jar).Group A jars dating from the last half of the 1800s often have neckbands with triangular or arched black motifs alternating with crescents. Toward the end of the 1800s, large circular figures were occasionally added to the mid-body design; in this example each is filled with a remarkable stylized bird. Such figures are rarely seen on Santa Ana pottery; indeed, Harlow, Anderson, and Lanmon found only one other related example, which is illustrated in Fig. 7.12 in their book. Tiny stylized birds are also seen in the neckband on the jar illustrated in Fig. 7.4.Almost precisely the same entire mid-body band design seen on this jar was used by Crescencia Lujan Martinez of Santa Ana on a jar she made about 1940. In particular the bird figure in their round cages are essentially identical (see Fig. 8.40 in The Pottery of Santa Ana Pueblo). Although the history of this jar has not been traced before it was acquired by Christopher Selser, the similarity of the design on the two jars suggests that the older Santa Ana jar was probably still at the Pueblo until the mid-1900s.Decorated pottery from Santa Ana Pueblo is much rarer than pottery from most other Pueblos where decorated pottery traditions survived into the late 1800s. The reason is undoubtedly because the Santa Anas found it easier to trade for pottery made at adjacent Zia Pueblo. The Santa Anas, finding their supply of water from the Jemez River to be marginal at best, moved to a site on the Rio Grande River; the grains they produced there were used to barter for pottery storage and water jars from their neighbors, the Zia. Indeed, it is felt that the only reason the Zia tribe survived the 1800s and early 1900s was because they were adept at making serviceable pottery, which they traded over great distances (to as far as Pecos Pueblo)."-Dwight LanmonFrom the Collection of Dwight Lanmon, Santa Fe, NM; Ex Robert V. Gallegos, Albuquerque, NM; Ex Christopher Selser, Santa Fe, NMBroken in several pieces and restored. Visible under blacklight.
