Main Subjects
Pueblos
Non-Pueblos
Artists
Shapes & Forms
Design Elements
Shapes and Forms: Figures
Black on black javelina with a carved head and legs and body decorated with Paquimé designs, Nicolas Ortiz, Mata Ortiz
6.75 in H by 10 in Dia
Black and white frog figure, Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano, Cochiti/Santo Domingo
3.75 in H by 10 in Dia
Tesuque Rain God
6.25 in H by 4.25 in Dia
Figures, figurines and effigies have played a role in Native American pottery for thousands of years. However, the religious laws of some pueblos don't allow for the creation of figures or effigies by their potters. In other pueblos, more figures are made than any other kind of pottery. At Tesuque Pueblo, it was the creation of thousands and thousands of Rain God figures for Anglo traders that virtually ended all pottery making in the pueblo.
Many of the figures produced at Mata Ortiz are influenced by pots made long ago in the Paquimé and Casas Grandes area, many of which show influence from Mogollon sources to the north and from Aztec and Mayan sources to the south.
Yellow ware bird effigy pot decorated with red and black bird element and geometric design, by Jean Sahme, Hopi-Tewa
5.75 in H by 7.25 in Dia
Turtle storyteller with three children, lizard, butterfly and puppy, by Marilyn Ray Lewis, Acoma
5.5 in H by 6.75 in Dia
Polychrome Corn Maiden with tablita, bird, butterfly, lady bug and geometric design, by Judy Lewis, Acoma
4.25 in H by 2 in Dia
Black-on-black dinosaur figure decorated with a geometric design, by Marta Gonzalez, Mata Ortiz
4 in H by 8.25 in Dia
A bird element and geometric design on a parrot effigy pot, by Rachel Sahmie, Hopi
6.5 in L by 4 in W by 4.5 in H
Parrot effigy found in ancient ruins near Valdivia, Ecuador
Dated to between 4000 and 1500 BCE
Photos from Valdivia, Ecuador are in the public domain.
Jaguar effigy found in ancient ruins near Valdivia, Ecuador
Dated to between 4000 and 1500 BCE
Note the spiral tail