ACOMA WATER JAR

Robert Patricio-2019
Polychrome Earth Tone Pigments

Robert Patricio was born in the Acoma Pueblo where he learned the traditional methods of creating hand coiled pottery from his great-grandmother Marie Z. Chino. Robert’s work has won numerous awards and is included in private and public collections including  the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
Robert specializes in producing hand coiled and hand painted pottery displaying designs derived from ancient pottery shards found on the lands of Acoma Pueblo. After collecting the various clays, slips, and natural vegetation, Robert first prepares the clay by sifting for impurities and then hand mixing with rainwater. Next, he constructs his vessels with snake-like coils. After sun drying, he scrapes the clay to a smooth, translucent finish. He then boils and strains natural vegetation such as wild spinach (bee-weed) and wildflowers to make the paints he uses to decorate his pottery. In the final stages of the process, Robert lightly etches the designs then paints them with clay slips before kiln firing the pots.
The large water jar
included in our collection displays a range of geometric designs, fertility symbols, Tularosa spirals, parrots, and kiva step patterns executed in a range of russet earth tones.