Cleveland Museum of Art

Water Jar (Olla) with Rosettes

Date

1880s

Medium

ceramic, slip

Culture

Native North America, Southwest, New Mexico, Zuni (A:shiwi) Pueblo

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In the past, motifs painted on Zuni (A:shiwi) ceramics likely held symbolic meanings but, if so, they are largely lost to memory—or at least the Zuni do not discuss them today. Where known, they seem to concern water, verdant crops, and abundant wildlife, also the focus of much Pueblo religious life. For instance, the large, triangular, blade-like forms around this vessel’s neck may represent the thunder knife used in many ceremonies. The petaled forms in circular rosettes refer to sunflowers.

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