Concho, Lolita – Large Five Color Water with Rainbows and Birds (1970s)

WOW!  This is an exceptional large water jar by Lolita Concho.  She is considered one of the Acoma revivalists in the 1960s-70s, along with Marie Z. Chino, Lucy Lewis, and Jessie Garcia.  This piece is from the early 1970s when she was among the first at Acoma to begin a revival of four and five-color jars.  This amazing piece is coil-built, thin-walled, and tightly painted. There are two large rainbows on the jar.  Underneath each rainbow is a parrot and separating them are bids with plants.  Note the detail in the painting. The designs and colors are stunning in person and perfectly match the shape of the jar.  It is a striking and complicated piece and definitely an important representation of her pottery form and tightly painted designs.  The jar was traditionally fired so there are strong color variations on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom, “L. Concho”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  Interestingly, both Rick Dillingham and Richard Spivey credit themselves as encouraging the Acoma potters (especially Lolita Concho) to begin bringing back more colors to Acoma pottery.  I’m sure they were more than surprised when the potters created pieces like this water jar!

Brand

Concho, Lolita Torivio (1914-2000)

Lolita Torivio Concho was among those potters helping to revive historic Acoma pottery designs and forms in the 1970s.  She was the daughter of Antonio and Teofilia Torivio.  She was a sister of Juanita Torivio, Mamie Torivio-Ortiz, Francis Torivio, and Connie Torivio Garcia. She was the mother-in-law of noted potter Dorothy Torivio and taught her the techniques for painting tight even lines.