Jar

The perfect union of three-dimensional form and two-dimensional design characterizes the finest Pueblo ceramics. Such a precisely balanced relationship of volumetric shape and painted imagery may be seen in this monumental 18th century storage jar. The rawhide strip around the neck was secured there long ago to stabilize a crack at the rim. Beneath the hide and partly hidden may be seen the pale red, stylized heads of birds, which perhaps reference the triangular shapes below as highly abstracted feather motifs. This concept may extend to the star-like designs of the mid-body, but often such imagery expresses a number of simultaneous meanings, all of which are associated with water, fertility, germination and growth-elements that sustained life for the Pueblo peoples.