Native American, Vintage Santo Domingo Pottery Olla by Arthur and Hilda Coriz, Ca 1980's, #1499

$ 1,750.00

Native American, Vintage Santo Domingo Pottery Olla by Arthur and Hilda Coriz, Ca 1980's, #1499

Description: #1499 Native American, Vintage Santo Domingo Pottery Olla by Arthur and Hilda Coriz, Ca 1980's. 1980's Santo Domingo Indian. Hand coiled and painted design pottery olla. Signed Arthur and Hilda Coriz. 

Dimensions: 10'' x 14''

Condition: Excellent for age.

Arthur and Hilda Coriz were Native American husband and wife potters from Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico, United States.

Hilda is a sister of award-winning potter Robert Tenorio, and began making pottery with the encouragement of her brother. Arthur learned to make pottery by watching his wife Hilda and her brother Robert. When they first started, Arthur and Hilda would make pots while Robert would create decorative designs and do the painting. Within two years time, Arthur was painting pots for himself and his wife Hilda. They eventually became full-time potters, winning numerous awards at the Santa Fe Indian Markets between 1983-1998. They participated in exhibitions at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts & Crafts Shows.

The Coriz' couple made pottery using the traditional methods of Santo Domingo potters. They used only natural clays and the Rocky Mountain bee plant, also known as wild spinach, and honey for making the black paint. Together they made traditional polychrome jars, bowls, dough bowls, and canteens. Arthur and Hilda’s favorite designs included birds, clouds, flowers and animals like the deer and bighorn sheep. They signed their pottery as "Arthur and Hilda Coriz."

Arthur died in 1998 and Hilda died in 2007. Their daughter Ione Coriz (b. 1973) also makes traditional Santo Domingo pottery. In 1988 Ione Coriz placed 3rd and in 1989 she won 2nd for her pottery in the ages 18 & under divisions at the Santa Fe Indian Market. (Source: Wikipedia)

“Pueblo pottery is made using a coiled technique that came into northern Arizona and New Mexico from the south, some 1500 years ago. In the four-corners region of the US, nineteen pueblos and villages have historically produced pottery. Although each of these pueblos use similar traditional methods of coiling, shaping, finishing and firing, the pottery from each is distinctive. Various clay's gathered from each pueblo’s local sources produce pottery colors that range from buff to earthy yellows, oranges, and reds, as well as black. Fired pots are sometimes left plain and other times decorated—most frequently with paint and occasionally with applique. Painted designs vary from pueblo to pueblo, yet share an ancient iconography based on abstract representations of clouds, rain, feathers, birds, plants, animals and other natural world features.

Tempering materials and paints, also from natural sources, contribute further to the distinctiveness of each pueblo’s pottery. Some paints are derived from plants, others from minerals. Before firing, potters in some pueblos apply a light colored slip to their pottery, which creates a bright background for painted designs or simply a lighter color plain ware vessel. Designs are painted on before firing, traditionally with a brush fashioned from yucca fiber.

Different combinations of paint color, clay color, and slips are characteristic of different pueblos. Among them are black on cream, black on buff, black on red, dark brown and dark red on white (as found in Zuni pottery), matte red on red, and poly chrome—a number of natural colors on one vessel (most typically associated with Hopi). Pueblo potters also produce un-decorated polished black ware, black on black ware, and carved red and carved black wares.

Making pueblo pottery is a time-consuming effort that includes gathering and preparing the clay, building and shaping the coiled pot, gathering plants to make the colored dyes, constructing yucca brushes, and, often, making a clay slip. While some Pueblo artists fire in kilns, most still fire in the traditional way in an outside fire pit, covering their vessels with large potsherds and dried sheep dung. Pottery is left to bake for many hours, producing a high-fired result.

Today, Pueblo potters continue to honor this centuries-old tradition of hand-coiled pottery production, yet value the need for contemporary artistic expression as well. They continue to improve their style, methods and designs, often combining traditional and contemporary techniques to create striking new works of art.” (Source: Museum of Northern Arizona)

Related Products