Olla (water jar)

This polychrome jar represents many of the distinguishing characteristics of A:shiwi (Zuni) pottery as it had evolved by the second half of the nineteenth century. Made of a whiteish clay, the pot is brightly painted in red, brown, and black against a ground of white slip. It bears a fine rendition of the A:shiwi rainbird symbol, the highly abstract motif that dominates its body and that was used repeatedly in this conventionalized form on A:shiwi pottery by the late nineteenth century. Ancient in origin, the elements of the rainbird motif, including the coil (sometimes containing a small dot or circle suggesting a bird's eye), fretwork, and stepped designs, may initially have served as a form of symbolism referencing birds, feathers, clouds, and rain, as well as ceremonial bows, feathers, drumsticks, and other objets.

“Olla (water jar)” in MFA Highlights: Native American Art by Gerald W. R. Ward, Pamela A. Parmal, Michael Suing, Heather Hole, And Jennifer Swope (Boston: MFA Publications, 2010), 86-87.