Native American, Vintage Very Rare Santo Domingo Pottery Canteen, Ca Early/Mid 1900's, #1492

Native American, Vintage Very Rare, Santo Domingo Pottery Canteen, Ca Early/Mid 1900's, #1492

Description: #1492, Native American, Vintage Very Rare, Santo Domingo Pottery Canteen, Ca Early;Mid 1900's. Vintage, black-on-red pottery canteen in barrel shape with central spout, two intact lugs, and unique medallion style designs.

Condition: Very good condition, minor scuffs.

Dimensions: 10" x 7-1/2"

According to Adobe Gallery, "Interestingly, there is not a canteen of this vessel shape pictured in the book A River Apart: the Pottery of Cochiti and Santo Domingo Pueblos. The only information on canteens of this shape is published in the Fourth Annual Report of the BAE, 1882-1883. Based on this publication, we have the following description and use of such a canteen."

"This canteen is similar to documented canteens that have been referred to as "dumbbell canteens" because of their similarity to weight-training dumbbells. That dumbbell canteens have a shape different from the more traditional "mammary shape canteens" has been explained as being more convenient for carrying in a blanket roll over the small of the back. The reason for this shape has been attributed to a design convenient for use by a hunter. Other forms would not do, as the hunter must have the free use not only of his hands but also of his head that he may turn quickly this way or that in looking for or watching game. The canteen is probably early 20th century."

“Pueblo pottery is made using a coiled technique that came into northern Arizona and New Mexico from the south, some 1500 years ago. In the four-corners region of the US, nineteen pueblos and villages have historically produced pottery. Although each of these pueblos use similar traditional methods of coiling, shaping, finishing and firing, the pottery from each is distinctive. Various clays gathered from each pueblo’s local sources produce pottery colors that range from buff to earthy yellows, oranges, and reds, as well as black. Fired pots are sometimes left plain and other times decorated—most frequently with paint and occasionally with appliqué. Painted designs vary from pueblo to pueblo, yet share an ancient iconography based on abstract representations of clouds, rain, feathers, birds, plants, animals and other natural world features.

Tempering materials and paints, also from natural sources, contribute further to the distinctiveness of each pueblo’s pottery. Some paints are derived from plants, others from minerals. Before firing, potters in some pueblos apply a light colored slip to their pottery, which creates a bright background for painted designs or simply a lighter color plain ware vessel. Designs are painted on before firing, traditionally with a brush fashioned from yucca fiber.

Different combinations of paint color, clay color, and slips are characteristic of different pueblos. Among them are black on cream, black on buff, black on red, dark brown and dark red on white (as found in Zuni pottery), matte red on red, and poly chrome—a number of natural colors on one vessel (most typically associated with Hopi). Pueblo potters also produce un-decorated polished black ware, black on black ware, and carved red and carved black wares.

Making pueblo pottery is a time-consuming effort that includes gathering and preparing the clay, building and shaping the coiled pot, gathering plants to make the colored dyes, constructing yucca brushes, and, often, making a clay slip. While some Pueblo artists fire in kilns, most still fire in the traditional way in an outside fire pit, covering their vessels with large potsherds and dried sheep dung. Pottery is left to bake for many hours, producing a high-fired result.

Today, Pueblo potters continue to honor this centuries-old tradition of hand-coiled pottery production, yet value the need for contemporary artistic expression as well. They continue to improve their style, methods and designs, often combining traditional and contemporary techniques to create striking new works of art.” (Source: Museum of Northern Arizona)