Pottery

Object/Artifact

St. Joseph Museums

Name/Title

Pottery

Entry/Object ID

2018.3.23

Description

Property P15: Navajo Pitch Pot, Object: pottery, Artist/Maker: unknown (20th Century, Navajo: AZ), Title/Model: Navajo Pitch Pot, Date/Region: ca. 1970 / Southwest, Medium/Technique: earthenware/pine pitch glaze, coil, Edition/Series: unique, 1 of 1, Size: 7" H x 5" W x 4.15" opening, Condition: good, Signature/Inscriptions: n/a, Exhibitions/Literature: n/a, Description/Notes: The contemporary Navajo water pot is created in a traditional glaze and the fire clouds are consistent with the method. This simple method is a throw-back to the earlier outer design and little or no decoration. This style, introduced to the craft market after 1950, has a coil attached and incised near the lip.

Collection

NATIVE AMERICAN

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Region

Four Corners Region

Country

United States of America

Culture/Tribe

Navajo

Native American

Notes

Diné

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Pottery

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Factory

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Industrial Structures

Nomenclature Class

Structures

Nomenclature Category

Category 01: Built Environment Objects

Maintenance

Maintenance History

Date

Feb 16, 2018

Research Notes

Notes

This piece of pottery was created around 1970 by a Navajo potter (artist previously known). This style of pottery is called a pitch pot. The distinct coating of piñon and pitch that creates this golden brown/dark brown coloring is unique to Navajo pottery. This covering originally sealed pots to be used for carrying water and food and was created by using a rag-covered stick covered in boiling pine pitch and "painting" the pitch all over the pot. This particular style of a smooth, undecorated body with a single decorative braid at the top is a common Navajo motif