AROUND HOME : Pueblo Pottery

THE PUEBLO artists of the American Southwest have created ceramics that, in form and design, compare favorably with pottery made in more sophisticated parts of the world. These artists functioned--and still function--without the aid of a potter’s wheel.

The Indians who have occupied pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico for nearly 2,000 years were the first North Americans to create true pottery. Best-known of the pueblos are those of the Hopi in Arizona and, in New Mexico, those of the Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Indians. Pottery techniques were passed from older to younger women, although occasionally men were involved in the process.

Primitive techniques have resulted in the loveliest and most sophisticated creations. Moist clay is coiled to form the desired shape of the pottery, and the coils are pinched together to form a rough outline of the piece. Hands and fingers dipped in water further shape the vessel, which is then scraped by the rind of a gourd, sun-dried and sanded with a sandstone. Then a mirror-like finish is produced by careful polishing of the vessel with a small, oval pebble. Paint is applied with a strip of yucca leaf that has been drawn through the potter’s teeth several times to create the proper shape. (A mystical significance surrounds the craft, because, in the eyes of Pueblo Indians, color is the gift of the gods.) The final firing takes place in an excavated basin or kiln in the ground, and the dried clay vessels are placed on supports such as rocks and potsherds and heated to between 600 and 900 degrees centigrade.

Excellent pottery is made today in the Hopi pueblos, especially in some of the villages of First Mesa. The pueblos of San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and San Juan, in the northwestern Rio Grande Valley, are also centers of fine ceramic production. Take for example a typical Hopi polychrome jar with designs of opposed “bird wing” motifs adapted from ancient models; a Zuni polychrome with arabesque motifs and a naturalistic deer showing Apache or Navajo influence, or an Acoma polychrome with multiple paneled bands repeating naturalistic bird figures.

Most popular of all is the black ware. For 100 years, one of the centers for polished black ware was Santa Clara, where highly polished wedding vases with double necks and bear-paw motifs were common. San Ildefonso was equally renowned, especially for the elegant matte-black-on-burnished-black vessels, perfected by such famous artists as the late Maria Martinez, who rediscovered early black-ware firing techniques in the 1920s. Sleekly contemporary in both concept and execution, black ware fits well with many of today’s design imperatives.

Pueblo pottery is available at the Silver Man Gallery West in Los Angeles; Federico, Wounded Knee Gallery and Nonesuch Gallery in Santa Monica; White Eyes Indian Shop in Arcadia; Indian Art Center of California in Studio City; Caskey-Lees Gallery (by appointment only) in Topanga Canyon; Don Bennett and Associates (by appointment only) in Westlake Village; Ojai Indian Shop in Ojai; Galeria Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, and American Indian Store in San Diego.