Ceramics Inventory for Cabot’s Pueblo Museum January 2008
- Photographed / compiled by Jane Pojawa
About the collection: Cabot Yerxa collected these pieces from 1920 - 1959. Some were gifts from Native American friends, others were purchased. It is probable that several of the pieces are considerably older than 1920. Yerxa’s affinity for Puebloan ceramics was considerable; he made repeated visits through the Southwest and patterned his home after the pueblos he visited there including Taos and Acoma in New Mexico. In 1925, at the conclusion of his art studies in Europe, Yerxa took a cruise through Mexico, Cuba and Panama. He collected the figurines, which may date from pre-Columbian contact, at that time. At Miracle Hill, he discovered both red and blue clay, which he used to make his own ceramics. Although the quality of his pieces has a certain naive charm, it was his incorporation of the clay into the adobe blocks from which he made his home that showed his craftsmanship to advantage. Provenance of the ceramics is based on physical characteristics and an inventory list compiled by Cole Eyraud. It is likely that the collection has dwindled since Yerxa’s death in 1965. This inventory is an attempt to catalog the collection and to establish the history of these unique works of art. All of the pieces are hand-built and demonstrate authentic native ceramic techniques.
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Description
Suggested Provinance
Polychrome bowl
Polychrome bowl and ladle. Not a matched set although displayed together.
Zia Pueblo
Polychrome bowl, olla shape.
Late Acoma
Polychrome bowl
Zia Pueblo
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Artifact
Artifact
Suggested Provinance
Description
Acoma Pueblo
Polychrome bowl
Acoma Pueblo
Black-on-White bowl
Acoma Pueblo
Black-on-White ladle
Acoma Pueblo
Black-on-White bowl, olla style
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Description
Suggested Provinance
Black-on-White bowl
Acoma Pueblo
Chaco Black-onWhite 1075 - 1150 ce Late Pueblo II
Chaco Canyon
Black Ware bowl
Santa Clara Pueblo
Black Ware pitcher
Santa Clara Pueblo
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Artifact
Artifact
Suggested Provinance
Description
Hopi
bowl
Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original
Red Ware bowl with lid
Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original
bowl
d
sphere; material not determined
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Description
bowl with fluted brim
Suggested Provinance Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original
Red Ware bowl
Cahuilla
Large bowl
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Artifact
Artifact
Suggested Provinance
Description
Rattlesnake vase
Casas Grandes (Mexico)
Brid effigy vase
Mexico
figurine
d
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Description
Suggested Provinance
Figurine
Mexico
Polychrome figurine
Mexico
Arrow shaft straightener, basalt
Stone pipe
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Artifact
A postcard sent from Cabot Yerxa to his wife Portia from Taos, New Mexico.
Chaco Canyon
Taos Santa Clara
Zia Acoma
Cabot Yerxa in Santa Fe, August 1959.
Map of New Mexico’s Pueblos Cabot Yerxa visited the Southwest many times between 1920 and 1959. He admired the culture of the Pueblo Indians and strove to emulate their craftsmanship
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