Clay: The Making of An America Craft
In a nation so rich and ripe with natural resources, it’s easy to underestimate the role of one as ubiquitous as clay. And while much of the medium’s history has been written elsewhere in the world, the American knack of pushing the envelope continues to break ceramics’ earthbound trajectory, giving impetus to the craft of clay as a force to be reckoned with.

Ceramics As A Way of Life
Take I-40 about 60 miles west from Albuquerque, turn left on Indian Route 23, and you’ll find yourself staring up at the 357-foot high Acoma Pueblo, known as Sky City. Its inhabitants believe it is home to the oldest continually occupied city in the U.S. It is also home to some of the earliest Indian pottery. For the past century the Acomans have created bowls, ollas, vases, and figurative animals showcasing highly stylized polychrome designs and monochrome patterns on incredibly thin walls.

Acoma Pueblo, Parrot Olla, Courtesy of Adobe Gallery, Alexander E. Anthony, Jr.

The American Indian pottery tradition was tied to their farming – after all, one needed a place to store food away from rodents and insects, and pots were better at doing that than baskets. Before the Europeans arrived pottery was made throughout most of the continent, not just in the Southwest as we’re most familiar with. From the east Woodland Iroquois, to the Cheyenne on the Plains, and tribes like the Shoshone in the Great Basin, different shapes, patterns, and techniques emerged.

As the Indians were dispersed and less dependent on farming, most gave up their pottery traditions; transporting their fragile pots became a liability. Because the Southwest tribes stayed closer to home, their work continued to grow and mature. Today, more and more young artists from the other tribes have reclaimed their heritages, and are rediscovering (and sometime reinventing) the past.

In Colonial America, for the hundred years leading to the Revolutionary War, potters were restricted by the British and could only make chamber pots, pans, and other common kitchen and pantry pieces – wares not economical to ship from Europe. Everything else, from refined redwares to stoneware to porcelain was imported. Another reason for the limited production was that, outside of the cities, potters were farmers or had other jobs, and could only make pottery during their downtime.

Vernon Owens, Jugtown Pottery, North Carolina, 2006, Travis Owen photograph
This is a contemporary version of a traditional crock used for food storage.

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