Patricio, Robert – Four Color Jar with Heartline Deer, Parrots and Sun Designs

9"w x 8.25"h

$ 1,400.00

This is an incredibly intricate four-color painted water jar by Robert Patricio.  It is a classic water jar shape with a wide shoulder and short neck. However, it is the design work, fine detail, and color that make it dynamic.  The jar was inspired by a large Acoma jar from the late 1800s. On this piece, it is not just the deer, but the “sunflower” or “sun” design which is so recognizable.  There are four deer near the base.  They alternate in red and black coloration.  Round the shoulder are four panels with Acoma birds painted red and surrounded by tan.  There are amazingly intricate cloud and wind designs above the birds.  Below are rain and cloud imagery.  Connected to the sides of the birds are teardrop-shaped designs are a design seen on older Acoma pottery, which then inspired work at San Ildefonso, like that of Tonita Roybal. The centers of them have cloud and cornfield designs. There is a lot of imagery for the size of the jar and yet it flows across the surface and allows the white space to handle and separate the various designs.  The jar is made from traditional Acoma clay and then painted with bee-weed (black) and two different red clay slips. The base is red clay.  It is signed on the bottom, “R.  M.  Patricio”.  The jar is an exciting extension of his artistry in clay and continuing the amazing Acoma legacy.  The last photo is of the jar before it was fired. 

Robert said recently of his pottery:

““The pottery inspires me to keep going.  Keeping the tradition alive in making pottery, that’s how we were brought up.  Our ancestors started making pottery.  It’s amazing what comes of a piece of clay. When you come to Acoma it’s peacuful and quite.  When you look a piece of pottery, you see the same peacefulness.”   Robert Patricio, 2020