Heritage, Volume 10, Number 3, Summer 1992 Page: 26
31 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Collectors and connoisseurs have been
interested in Southwest pottery for decades.
Archaeologists have taken advantage of
the stylistic diversity of Puebloan ceramics
to propose cultural chronologies and prehistoric
boundaries for regions. Since early
in this century the distinctive design motifs
and diverse resource materials for pastes
and tempers have contributed to one of the
world's best defined ceramic sequences.
Three recent publications are reviewed
here by R. B. Brown of the Instituto Nacional
de Antropologia y Historia, Paquime, Casas
Grandes, Chihuahua; the books range from
a reprint from an early chronological study
(Mera); to a synthesis of prehistoric ceramic
traditions in New Mexico (Peckham); to a
work on contemporary pottery production
in the area and style of Paquime in northern
Chihuahua. These publications join a library
of fine ceramic studies in the Southwest
that include the works of Jesse W.
Fewkes, A.V. Kidder, Florence Hawley Ellis,
Harold S. Colton, Anna 0. Shepard, and
Prudence M. Rice. The School of American
Research in Santa Fe has recently published
a fine overview by J.J. Brody, "Anasazi and
Pueblo Painting" (1991/School of American
Research/University of New Mexico
Press) that provides an art history perspective
of design motifs on ceramics as well as
rock art. Lydia L. Wyckoff examines Hopi
ceramic design and decoration as a means of
analyzing tribal factionalism in the Hopi
pueblos. Her recent book, "Designs and
Factions: Politics, Religion and Ceramics
on the Hopi Third Mesa" (1990/University
of New Mexico Press) is a provocative contribution
to the literature on Southwest
ceramics.
John Peterson
Style Trends of Pueblo
Pottery: 1500-1840
Harry P. Mera (1991); new material by
Jonathan Batkin, Avanyu Publishing Inc.,
Albuquerque
"Style Trends of Pueblo Pottery" was
first published more than 50 years ago bythe Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa
Fe and quickly became a classic study and
guide to the ceramics produced by the
Pueblo potters during the post contact period.
In his introduction, Jonathan Batkin
mentions some modifications that were
accepted by Mera, while in his foreword
Bruce Bernstein, chief curator of the Laboratory
of Anthropology, notes that this
"book remains the definitive statement on
historic pottery."
As well as describing 65 different historic
pots, Mera presents a summary of the
geo-cultural context dividing the area under
consideration into five provinces:
Upper Rio Grande, Middle Rio Grande,
Jemez, Little Colorado, and Hopi. On the
basis of form he describes what he considers
to be the major types in each of these
provinces. He does not delve into the
world of iconography and meaning beyond
mentioning the role of the so-called "ceremonial
break" that was occasionally incorporated
into decorative bands.
As often as not archaeologists tend to
forget the "person behind the pots," but
Mera begins his comments on "Sankawi
black-on-cream" by noting that during the
mid-16th century a genius in one of the
Upper Rio Grande villages "defied convention
and produced a pottery form that
marked the beginning of new conceptions
concerning vessel shapes...giving rise to
styles that were distinct...in the Southwest."
This shape included a depressed
bottom as well as an elongated and wide
neck. While the olla forms had a pronounced
shoulder, the shoulder on the
bowls was slight but clearly defined. According
to Mera, the subsequent Tewa
polychrome, Posuge red, and Ogapoge
polychrome were clearly products of the
new style while Pojoaque polychrome and
Kapo black were related hybrids manufactured
toward the end of the 17th century.
Mera notes that in the Middle Rio
Grande, " The change from the depressed
olla forms of the 16th century to taller
shapes was an integration of local shapes
with those of the Upper Rio Grande, though
there was general emphasis placed on
globular outlines." At the same time he
notes that "glazed decoration, resultingfrom the use of inorganic paint, became
one of the principal characteristics of the
Middle Rio Grande" from the 14th through
the 18th centuries when they were replaced
by organic paints.
Mera believed that the best historic examples
from the Little Colorado Ceramic
Province were excavated by Hodge at the
Zufi village of Hawikuh. They are Hawikuh
polychrome ware that seems to have been
an attempt to copy Hopi styles, and Ashiwi
polychrome, a type showing relationships
with the Middle Rio Grande and a revival
of the older glaze-paint tradition.
Regretfully, Mera's treatment of the
Hopi ceramic tradition was extremely brief,
an oversight that has been subsequently
corrected by authors such as S. Watson
Smith. However, the true strength of the
book is the description of 65 historic pots
and the associated illustrations, which include
both color plates and line drawings of
the decoration and the silhouette. Those
readers interested in more recent treatments
may wish to consider Stewart Peckham's
"From this Earth" (reviewed below) or
Alfred Dittert and Fred Plog's "Generations
in Clay."
From This Earth: The Ancient
Art of Pueblo Pottery
Stewart Peckham, Museum of New Mexico,
Santa Fe.
"From this Earth" is a well-written introduction
to Southwestern ceramics. It is
profusely illustrated by black and white
photographs of material from the collections
of the Museum of New Mexico and the
School of American Research. Evidently
due to the nature of these collections,
Peckham, one of the major Southwestern
ceramic typologists, generally restricts
himself to New Mexico. In his introduction
he provides the context for the rest of
the book. He explains the introduction
and development of Pueblo pottery from its
beginnings just after the time of Christ up26 HERITAGE * SUMMER 1992
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 10, Number 3, Summer 1992, periodical, Summer 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45419/m1/26/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.