About the Object

This three-color Acoma polychrome jar features white slip with black and red painted decoration. The jar is decorated with stunning designs of rain symbolism throughout its two-banded design. The body of the jar includes tall “x” formations of hachures (crosshatchings, or rain lines) and dispersed within are black-and-white checkerboard patterns surrounded by deep red triangles and additional triangular hachures. The neck decoration includes waving bands of hachures that are topped with checkerboard patterns; red triangles cap the decoration.

Additional Information

The Pueblo of Acoma, also known as Haak’u and Sky City, is a sacred Indigenous homeland located in northwest New Mexico. The Pueblo people who call Acoma their home are a modern people with a living culture and tradition that is rooted in their land. Their art forms, such as pottery, are the traditions of their ancestors and are directly tied to their language, dance, and celebrations.