Pear-Shaped Blackwar Miniature Jar, with Turquoise Inset

This is a miniature pear-shaped blackware pottery jar, with a star design around a central insert turquoise. On the reverse is a buffalo executed in sgraffito etching. The vessel was reportedly made by Elmer Red Starr (Elk), who was born into the Sioux Nation in Wisconsin in 1937. The Sioux often use the sgraffito technique to decorate their pots. However, Red Starr married Harriet Tafoya of Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, a tribe whose members are famed for their exquisitely burnished blackware ceramics. He began combining Santa Clara clays and traditional methods with the addition of sgraffito technique. In addition, Red Starr and his nephew Norman Red Star frequently also include turquoises and other stones in the finish of vessels, creating a new type of fusion ceramic that has proved very attractive to collectors.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Dr. and Mrs. Edward J. Hoffman, Baltimore, MD; given to Walters Art Museum, 1984.