This is a large classic high shoulder Acoma water jar by Robert Patricio. This jar has a high shoulder and a short neck.  The shape is on that is seen on older Acoma pottery. The design for this piece was somewhat inspired by a historic Acoma jar.  The jar has a checkerboard rainbow encircling the piece.  It is a black-and-white checkerboard with a line of red in the center.  The red is a clay slip and the black is bee-weed.  Above the rainbow are Acoma birds.  They are slipped with orange clay and surrounded by flowers.  Note the red flowers near the rim.  It is a “new” clay that Robert said he is using that he got from Rose Chino’s daughter. It has a rich coloration and a bit of diffusion of the red into the white around it, creating a very old-style appearance.  Below the rainbow are large red heartline deer.  The heartline deer are classic imagery in Acoma pottery from around 1890.  Next to each deer is a plant with hatchure leaves and polychrome seeds.  The jar is one of those pieces that the more you look at it, the more you see!  There are three different colors of red clay along with the white slip and black-bee-weed to paint the designs. The base is painted with red clay and it is indented, much like the historic utilitarian Acoma jar where they were worn on the head to gather water.  It is signed on the bottom, “R.  M.  Patricio”.  The jar is a striking extension of his artistry in clay and continuing the amazing Acoma legacy.   Robert is one of the few artists to have won “Best of Pottery” at Santa Fe Indian Market twice!

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