Santa Clara vintage olla, 9.5 inches high by 11 inches wide. [P2201]

American Indian Antique Art and Southwest Native Originals

This delightful Santa Clara Pueblo vintage blackware olla is approximately 9.5 inches tall, with an 11 inch wide shoulder and 9.5 inch wide rim.  The Santa Clara potter was skilled.  She took the time to create the olla with several characteristics making it more desirable than common vintage blackware ollas made for the tourist trade: (1) she enhanced the olla shoulder with a distinctive design consisting of slanted, finger-wide hash indentations approximately every 3 inches around the entire shoulder; (2) her olla has a well-formed, balanced shoulder and neck and the out-flaring rim is pretty well centered and well shaped.  The olla is slightly off center, which is common in moderate-priced vintage ollas like this one.  At some point in its prior history, this olla's base was sanded/shaved, so it would sit more level.  More common vintage ollas produced for the tourist trade frequently are off-center, lop-sided, with irregular rims, and have NO designs on the olla shoulder.

Price:  $1450.  US sale & shipment only.  Call 703-801-2565 for purchase and shipping options.  To protect your health and the integrity of this antique pottery, NO returns, refunds or exchanges unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Authenticity Guarantee.  Santa Clara vintage blackware olla, approximately 9.5 inches high with an 11 inch wide shoulder and 6.5 inch wide rim. Sold in as-is vintage condition. [P2201]

Comments.  This olla's wide shoulder, high neck, and out-flaring rim are characteristics of Santa Clara ollas dating as early as 1900-1920.  However, we do not have proof in the form of definitive, reliable provenance on its collection or production date.  It is possible this olla was created at a later date by a potter replicating the characteristics of Santa Clara ollas from the early 20th Century.  That's why we only guarantee it as vintage, although it may well have been created in the first quarter of the 20th Century.
     Regardless, it is a beautiful old Santa Clara olla that indicates the potter was skilled, and committed to producing a well-balanced olla with distinctive hand-formed design enhancements of the olla shoulder.  Her unique enhancements of the shoulder design took more time to execute, and increased the risk of bad results during pottery firing. Her olla's quality and design enhancements put it in a higher quality class than the more common, plain, lop-sided, vintage blackware ollas produced for the tourist trade.

SOLD

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