human figure

unrecorded Kotyit (Cochiti) artist, artist

human figure, late 1800s–1898

Where object was made: Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico Territory (present-day New Mexico), United States

Material/technique: pigment; ceramic

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 37 x 29 x 16 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 14 9/16 x 11 7/16 x 6 5/16 in

Credit line: The Father Felix Nolte Collection from the Benedictine College Museum

Accession number: 2007.2741

Not on display

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Label texts

Brosseau Center for Learning: The Object Feels

The 19th century saw many changes for the Southwestern Pueblo Indians as the reigning power changed from the King of Spain, to Mexico, to the United States. In addition, the Santa Fe Trail brought many new people through their homelands including missionaries and traders. The potters at Cochiti Pueblo reacted to the changes by making humorous figurines of merchants, priests, opera singers, and circus performers. This standing figure, orginally identified as a “Catholic Padre,” appears gazing upward with its arms in the air and mouth wide open as if singing. It was and is depicted wearing a short necklace of small dots with a cross-like pendant with a hook at the bottom, and a longer necklace with larger beads and a larger pendant of the same design. The Cochiti Pueblo was by far the most prolific in making figurative pottery to sell to the tourists.

Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures

Often seeming to display humorous social commentary such figures are frequently depicted with their arms in the air and mouths open wide, imitating the gestures of opera singers, circus performers, and priests.

Exhibition Label:
"Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures," Jul-2011, Nancy Mahaney
Often seeming to display humorous social commentary such figures are frequently depicted with their arms in the air and mouths open wide, imitating the gestures of opera singers, circus performers, and priests.