t f a r C t n e i The Anc By Martin Link
Andrew, Emma, Delores, Lucy Photo credit: Lisa Rodriquez, Indian Trader, Martin Link
54
August 2018
Apart from basketry, the most ancient craft here in the American Southwest is ceramics, or pottery making. Early evidence of making pottery goes back two thousand years in northern Mexico, and by five or six hundred AD, sedentary tribes like the ancestors of the Pima and Papago, as well as the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, and other Pueblo groups along the Rio Grande were learning the techniques of manufacturing pottery. Unlike many crafts that require imported components (i.e., silver jewelry) a potter (mostly women) could acquire the basic ingredients within a short walk from home. All they needed was clay, temper, slip, and paint (carbon or mineral) and some water. Also needed was enough hard wood, or even coal, to fire the vessel in a kiln. From the beginning, pottery’s principle use was as a container. It is the continuation of this tradition of decorated pottery that is the focus of modern or contemporary vessels. Since its inception, the method of creating a vessel was to start with a flat piece of clay that would serve as the bottom, then build up the walls with thin coils of clay, fusing them together as the potter developed the design of the vessel. Never, in the history of this craft was a potter’s wheel used, even after Spanish colonists introduced it. But what was adopted from the Spaniards were their metal and glass containers and cooking wares, and over the decades the need for clay pots greatly diminished. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 20th Century, that anthropologists like Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett of the Museum of New Mexico, and artists in Taos and Santa Fe began to encourage some of the Pueblo potters to resurrect the ancient techniques and styles of their ancestors’ pottery and create objects that could be put on the commercial market as pieces of art. Two of the first potters to respond to this suggestion were Maria and her husband
Julian Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo. She made the pottery and he applied the decorations. She also became one of the first potters to sign her name “Maria” on the bottom of her pieces. Shortly thereafter a potter at Acoma Pueblo, Lucy M. Lewis, began to create her own style of traditional Acoma pottery, signed her pieces, and encouraged three of her children, Andrew, Emma, and Delores to become professional potters. This pattern was repeated at Hopi (Nampeyo), Santa Clara Pueblo (Margaret Tafoya and her children), and the Maricopa Reservation (Ida Redbird), to mention just a few. As the years went by, in several cases, pottery making became a generational occupation. Contemporary Pottery While traditional potters, mainly in Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, and Santa Clara, still make their vessels by the coil method and fire them in home-made kilns, many others use a mold to create the vessel and then, after painting the design, fire it in an electric kiln. In both cases, the potters usually will sign their names on the bottom of the pieces. Several years ago, some enterprising Navajos joined up with some ceramic experts and created a whole new style of “Indian made” pottery (also known as greenware). Commonly referred to as Navajo Etched Pottery, the pieces are cast in molds, and then, while the clay is still soft, an artist will etch or carve designs into the outer surface of the vessel, a technique known as graffito. In some cases, the surface is laced with hair from the tail or mane of a horse. During the firing process, the hair is burned, leaving a carbon residue of randomly placed black lines. After the pieces are fired in an electric kiln, Navajo artisans, using a variety of bright and intense ceramic paints, highlight the etched designs and give the vessel a colorful appearance. Even though pottery has a two thousand year old history here in the Southwest, it is still a vibrant and living craft art.
