Lucy M. Lewis is among the best-known Acoma potters for her pottery revival beginning in the 1950s.  This jar has a low shoulder and an elongated neck.  It is coil-built and painted with bee-weed (black). The design is her iconic lightning pattern that encircles the entire piece.  The “lightning design” was inspired by the ancient pottery of Chaco Canyon.  What makes it so striking is that it is free-flowing across the surface of the bowl, and the black-and-white color gives it a more modern appearance.  The lines are tight and crisp against the white background.  The jar is signed on the bottom “Lucy M. Lewis”.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Certainly one of the classic pieces by this important matriarchal potter!

“There was a time a long time ago when Acoma pottery had almost died out. Lucy revived it, she kept it going. We saw photos of the Mimbres pottery for the first time in the late fifties. Lucy had been doing fine-line designs much earlier, from the sherds. She had developed several different ways of doing those lines. Some of her designs were similar to the Mimbres ones, and when she saw those she went on developing more of her own.” Dolores Lewis, Spoken Through Clay