Dinosaur storage jar, William Andrew Pacheco
Artwork Overview
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 48.3 x 40.6 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 19 x 16 in
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Images
Label texts
This kind of artwork is called “utilitarian,” which means it can be used in daily life, or it can mean that this object has a job to do other than to be looked at. A vessel like this one can be used to hold or carry something. What kinds of things do you think could go in this jar? Would it be heavy to carry?
About the art
This jar comes from the Pueblo of Santo Domingo, a place where Native American Kewa peoples live. People in that community do not show living people or animals in their art because they are considered sacred. Because dinosaurs are extinct, the community decided it was OK for this artist to paint them on his pottery.
About the animal
These dinosaurs look like sauropods, a group of dinosaurs that includes the Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus. The largest of these could have been almost 75 feet long, which is about twice as long as the height of a telephone pole!
Click the link below to see a rendering of a dinosaur similar to these ones.
This kind of artwork is called “utilitarian,” which means it can be used in daily life, or it can mean that this object has a job to do other than to be looked at. A vessel like this one can be used to hold or carry something. What kinds of things do you think could go in this jar? Would it be heavy to carry?
About the art
This jar comes from the Pueblo of Santo Domingo, a place where Native American Kewa peoples live. People in that community do not show living people or animals in their art because they are considered sacred. Because dinosaurs are extinct, the community decided it was OK for this artist to paint them on his pottery.
About the animal
These dinosaurs look like sauropods, a group of dinosaurs that includes the Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus. The largest of these could have been almost 75 feet long, which is about the same distance from where you are standing now in front of the jar to the end of the gallery where a quilt is hanging!
Tap the Web icon to see a dinosaur similar to these ones.
Click on the audio tab above to listen to a student's interpretation of this object.
Pacheco is known for his ceramic pieces depicting dinosaurs. His pueblo of Santo Domingo forbids depictions of humans and most animals because they are considered sacred. Dinosaurs are exempt from those restrictions because they are extinct. This is a particularly large example of Pacheco’s vessels.
Pacheco has been making vessels with dinosaur imagery for 15 years. His pueblo of Santo Domingo forbids depictions of humans and most animals, since they are considered sacred. Dinosaurs are exempt from those restrictions. This is a particularly large example of Pacheco’s vessels.
Pacheco has been making vessels with dinosaur imagery for 15 years. His pueblo of Santo Domingo forbids depictions of humans and most animals, since they are considered sacred. Dinosaurs are exempt from those restrictions. This is a particularly large example of Pacheco’s vessels.
Archive Label 2003:
Pacheco has been making vessels with dinosaur imagery for 15 years. His pueblo of Santo Domingo forbids depictions of humans and most animals, since they are considered sacred. Dinosaurs are exempt from those restrictions. This is a particularly large example of Pacheco’s vessels.
Exhibition Label:
American Indian Art at the Spencer Museum
Sept 6 - Oct 19-2003
Santo Domingo religion forbids the depiction of people, animals, and most plants. As a child, William Andrew Pacheco, nephew of the great traditional potter Robert Tenorio, began to depict dinosaurs. Since they are animals that were unknown to Santo Domingo culture, there was no ban on depicting them. In this monumental jar, the dinosaurs interact with each other so that it is impossible to see them all from one point of view, forcing the viewer to circle the pot in order to see them all.
