Pitcher with Black on White Geometric Design
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
The Anasazi, ancestors of modern Pueblo peoples now living in New Mexico and Arizona, settled and farmed in the Four Corners region between about A.D. 1 and 1300. Originally, utilitarian Anasazi vessels were basketry, but by A.D. 500, clay that was hand-coiled, smoothed, painted, and baked in open-air fires became the medium of choice. One speculation is that the different black-and-white pottery designs may represent family, clan, or village affiliations, but since few designs are exactly alike, each may simply reflect the individual potter s imagination. This pitcher is a fine example of the thin clay walls that the potter could achieve and the dynamic interplay of line designs.
Caption
Ancestral Pueblo. Pitcher with Black on White Geometric Design, 900–1300. Ceramic, pigment, 8 3/8 × 7 1/4 in. (21.3 × 18.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Charles A. Schieren, 01.1538.1752. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 01.1538.1752_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Pitcher with Black on White Geometric Design
Date
900–1300
Geography
Place made: Mancos Canyon, Colorado, United States
Medium
Ceramic, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
8 3/8 × 7 1/4 in. (21.3 × 18.4 cm)
Inscriptions
Gummed label: 301 on shoulder, gummed label 1752 on inside of neck. 1/2 of original Culin exhibition label placed inside pot.
Credit Line
Gift of Charles A. Schieren
Accession Number
01.1538.1752
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Are these abstract patterns or do the patterns have particular meaning?
While we don’t know for sure, it’s speculated that the different designs represent family, clan, or village affiliations. It’s also possible that they reflect the individual potter’s imagination!
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