Ladle
1 of 2
Object Label
Puebloan people excelled at creating an immense variety of pottery using only black and white. This color scheme was partly dictated by the nature of the clay and the mineral or plant paints available. Archaeologists surmise that cross-hatched designs like the one on this bowl may have represented the color turquoise—reflecting the precious stone and the color of water, a sacred commodity in the dry Southwest region.
Caption
Possibly Ancestral Pueblo; or Hopi Pueblo. Ladle, 900–1300. Clay, slip, carbon pigment, 13 1/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. (33.7 x 13.3 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1903, Purchased with funds given by A. Augustus Healy and George Foster Peabody, 03.325.10847. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Cultures
Title
Ladle
Date
900–1300
Geography
Place excavated: Double Cave Ruin, Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, United States
Medium
Clay, slip, carbon pigment
Classification
Dimensions
13 1/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. (33.7 x 13.3 x 8.3 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1903, Purchased with funds given by A. Augustus Healy and George Foster Peabody
Accession Number
03.325.10847
Frequent Art Questions
Can you tell me about the 1903 museum expedition where this was collected? Did Brooklyn Museum do digs in pueblos or how did they acquire these?
Stewart Culin, an ethnographer and curator for the Brooklyn Museum, traveled to the Southwest and purchased many objects while there.At time time, there were already some regulations on the purchase and excavation of Native American objects, both imposed by the United States Government (if the object was found on federal land) and through tribal authorities. Culin noted that objects of major significance were not for sale.The Museum today fully complies with North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and tribal authorities/governments in relation to our Native North American collections.Is there a cultural significance to the zig zags or are they purely aesthetic?
It's theorized that the lines may be a reference to water and the color turquoise. Water was, of course, an important resource in the dry climates of the American Southwest.As with any design motif, there is an aesthetic component to it. Take, for example how the artist adapted the cross hatching to fit the shape of the ladle. It's really quite beautiful, I think!
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