Native American Fine Art and Jewelry

Zuni Antique Bowl by Laura Lon Jose

$350

Artist: Laura Lon Jose
Style: Bowl
Pueblo: Zuni, NM
Period: Antique
Dimensions: 10.5″ H x 5″ W
Materials: Zuni Clay, Natural Slip, and Mineral and Vegetal Pigments
Item: #2618

In stock

Description

Traditional handmade Native American Indian Pottery from Indigenous Pueblos of the Southwest. Guaranteed authentic.

Showcasing the meticulous craftsmanship characteristic of historic Zuni pottery, this beautiful antique bowl by Laura Lon Jose is a wonderful addition for any serious collector. Zuni ceramics are highly esteemed for their bright, stark white slips and complex, finely painted symbolic motifs, and this well-proportioned vessel perfectly captures that enduring aesthetic. Formed entirely by hand using ancient coiling methods without the use of a potter’s wheel, the open bowl serves as a pristine canvas for the artist’s exacting brushwork. The vessel is enveloped in classic Zuni iconography, utilizing striking black and terracotta-red pigments to depict sweeping geometric and stepped patterns that speak to the deep spiritual and agricultural roots of the community.

The materials used to create this vessel were entirely gathered from the New Mexico landscape. The natural clay was meticulously hand-coiled, scraped, and coated in a white stone-polished slip, while the traditional designs were applied using hand-ground mineral and vegetal pigments. Fired outdoors in a traditional pit, this antique bowl bears the subtle, organic variations and gentle patina that only age and authentic, historic firing methods can produce. It stands as a beautiful, tangible piece of Indigenous history that grounds any space with its quiet strength and cultural significance.

About the Artist

aura Lon Jose is a recognized Zuni Pueblo potter known for her dedication to the time-honored methods of hand-coiled ceramics. Like many historic and early-to-mid 20th-century Zuni ceramicists, she learned the demanding, labor-intensive process of hand-gathering local clay, coiling, and natural pigment painting through familial teachings, ensuring that ancestral knowledge was preserved and carried forward.

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Pueblo

Zuni Pueblo ceramics are globally celebrated for their striking visual contrast and deeply symbolic, intricate designs. Traditionally hand-coiled from locally gathered clays, these vessels are typically coated in a stark white, stone-polished slip that serves as a brilliant canvas for fine-line polychrome painting, usually rendered in deep black and terracotta-red pigments. Zuni artisans are world-renowned for their exacting brushwork and recurring cultural motifs—most notably the “heartline deer,” delicate dragonflies, stylized rainbirds, and complex geometric rosettes—which act as prayers for rain, agricultural abundance, and natural harmony in the arid high desert of New Mexico. Whether historic or contemporary, authentic Zuni pottery remains a meticulously preserved tradition that bridges ancient history with breathtaking technical mastery.

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