Pot with Incised Decoration
Object Details
- Luce Center Label
- Rose Williams makes traditional Navajo pottery, with no decoration apart from a biyo---a small circle of design just below the rim. The break in the biyo represents "the way out" for the spirit, and Navajo potters consider it bad luck to close this circle. The dark, smoky patterns on the surface of this pot are known as "fire clouds," and appear when clay is fired in an outdoor pit.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Date
- ca. 1992
- Object number
- 1997.124.183
- Artist
- Rose Williams, born 1915
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Decorative Arts-Ceramic
- Folk Art
- Medium
- fired and incised clay with piñon pitch
- Dimensions
- 15 3/8 x 10 in. (39.1 x 25.4 cm) diam.
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Decorative Arts
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 28B
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
- Topic
- Object\other\vase
- Record ID
- saam_1997.124.183
