A
Collector's Guide to
Quality Southwest Native American Pottery
by
Dr Katherine Aaron
The most important factor when choosing your pottery is how pleasing it is
to you. Even if you are buying the piece for an investment and plan to
resell the pottery you still need to develop and trust your own sense of
style. Also, you’ll receive more enjoyment displaying your investment
for as long as you keep the pottery.
Other
factors aside, the larger the pot the higher the value
is a general rule of thumb. When it comes to miniatures,
the smaller the pot the higher the value is a good rule
of thumb.
An
important factor to consider is the condition of the
pot. Both greenware and thin walled coiled pots will
make a bright pinging sound when you tap it. If you
hear a dull thud it means that there is a hairline crack
somewhere in the pot. This only holds true with thin
walled pottery and doesn’t apply to the thicker
walled pots, such as the ones made in Santa Clara Pueblo.
Chips, cracks and scratches all will devalue your investment.
You can expect some wear on older pottery pieces, but
remember that when all else is equal, such as the date
it was made and the artist, the better the condition,
the higher the value.
In
determining the value of your pottery, it’s important
to keep in mind that handcoiled pottery takes
much more time to make than greenware making
the coiled pots more
expensive. Most potters dig
and mix their own clay as well as gather and
prepare the pigments. Greenware is a slip cast
ceramic made by the artist or
carefully selected by the artist
to paint. Acoma, Navajo and San Felipe artists
often times make both hand coiled and greenware
pottery. Most
of the other Native American Pueblos only work
with coiled pottery. Whether a pot is greenware
or handcoiled is an important factor
in the price and collectibility.
A
general rule is that the more intricate the
design, the more value the pot holds when buying
new pieces. But its not just the intricacy
that matters, also look for the quality of
the work. For example, a highly detailed fineline
pot that is poorly
executed will have far less value than one
with better quality with lines that are even,
symmetrical and smoothly
painted even though the pot itself maybe considerably
smaller. The same holds true for Storytellers,
the more children in the piece the higher the
value. However,
if it’s poorly executed the value is less than
one that is more carefully formed and painted
with fewer children.
In
order of importance; awards won by the artist,
the tribal association, and the artist’s family
are all contributing factors in determining
the value of the pot. The value
increases greatly if an award was given for
the pot you purchased. If the pot
has won an award, be sure that
the award ribbon is sold with the pot. If you
have a photograph of the artist, the pot and
the ribbon it
also increases the value of the piece.
Last
but not least, is that every Pueblo has their own standards
for that specific pottery. For example, when buying
Santa Clara pottery, the value is determined by how
smoothly the pot has been polished; in Acoma pottery
the thinness of the walls affect its value.
Those
are the basics for getting started as a collector. These
guidelines will help you in choosing your Southwest
Native American pottery as an investment. But, always
remember that the bottom line is your personal enjoyment
of the piece.
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