History That You Can Hold

I have mentioned before that I enjoy the history of the objects that pass across my desk, but sometimes the history is more personal.

This pot was made well over 100 years ago, most likely at the Zia Pueblo, in New Mexico. This pot was not thrown on a wheel. It was probably made by a woman and fired in a wood fired kiln, if a kiln was used at all. The designs on the surface are hand-painted and have significance for the potter. The graphics can feature designs that are typically used in that specific pueblo, to allow others to identify where the pot came from; even today, logos are used to identify the manufacturer.

While I am a photographer, I am also a potter. This pot had me geeking out, to a certain extent, because of the interior of the pot; specifically, the finger grooves of the potter who made the pot.

Without the aid of a wheel, the potter had to form this pot entirely by hand. Beyond that, the potter had to make the clay herself, make the paint for the designs, create the brushes to apply the designs, and then fire the pot to make it useful. Hard work and much skill went into making this specific pot, and 100 years after the potter’s passing, I was privileged to hold her pot and put my fingers in the exact places hers had once been. Yeah, I geeked a bit.