Native American Laguna Handbuilt and Handpainted Pot-Tularosa Pattern

Description

Native American Laguna Handbuilt and Handpainted Pot-Tularosa Pattern by Myron Sarracino

Wonderful handbuilt and handpainted pot by Laguna potter Myron Sarracino. He titled this pot Laguna Cosmos." This is a classic piece with very traditional painting style. This piece came from a private collection and is in excellent condition.

In the waning days of the 1800s, potters at Acoma Pueblo began reviving designs from ancient pottery. In particular, one design became the most popular. It was the reuse of pottery designs from the mid-1200s, known as Tularosa Black-on-White, which had been made in the region of present-day Acoma Pueblo. [Lanmon & Harlow: 2013:375] Acoma Pueblo potters claimed the inherited right to use designs of the earlier Puebloan groups that lived in their region. Acoma potters have been particularly involved with the use of these designs since the late 19th century.

The Tularosa Basin is in the area east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, mostly in Otero County. It lies between the Sacramento Mountains to the east and the San Andres and Oscura Mountains to the west. Notable features of the Tularosa Basin are White Sands National Monument, Trinity Site, and the Carrizozo lava flows. [Adobe Gallery]

This Acoma pot is a modified example of Tularosa patterning. The curvilinear scrolls that circumnavigate the body are flanked on the upper and lower extremities with angular black-on-white designs. As was Tularosa tradition, the design elements are close together, the cross-hatching within the patterns is dense, and the solids are heavy.