Water Jar (Tai-lai)
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Object Label
NATIVE AMERICAN PUEBLO POTTERY
Pottery making was practiced in the southwestern United States for at least two thousand years. Zuni and Cochiti potters created the three vessels here: two water jars and one drum jar, which would have had a hide stretched over the top for beating with drumsticks. Historically, women were the potters, collecting their own clays, coiling and finishing each pot by hand, and firing the pieces in open fires.
Pots were often traded and exchanged between pueblos, so that new ideas were constantly being generated. During the 1880s the advent of the railroad brought an influx of trading posts and tourists into the Southwest and entrepreneurial potters began selling to the non-Native market. Today, both male and female potters continue to form traditional works as well as generate exciting new forms of Pueblo pottery.
Caption
A:shiwi (Zuni Pueblo). Water Jar (Tai-lai), 1868–1933. Ceramic, pigment, 12 × 15 × 15 in. (30.5 × 38.1 × 38.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund, 04.297.5249. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.04.297.5249.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Culture
Title
Water Jar (Tai-lai)
Date
1868–1933
Medium
Ceramic, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
12 × 15 × 15 in. (30.5 × 38.1 × 38.1 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund
Accession Number
04.297.5249
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
Why did the curator put these objects together?
The views shared by many Americans around the centennial towards Native Americans people, contrasted with actual works made by Natives, are being highlighted here. Many people regarded natives as "Noble Savages" that were disappearing and wanted to capture and preserve that legacy.In actuality, Native American culture was alive and well. Some people continued to lived in traditional ways on tribal lands and others moved into cities and lived like "typical Americans."Thank you!You're welcome! You'll notice that many of the works in this room date to the 1870s. 1876 was the United States' Centennial celebration so it was a time of reflection -- what was America all about? How was national identity represented in visual art?
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