Inventory of Cabot's Pueblo Museum Pottery

- Photographed / compiled by Jane Pojawa

Ceramics Inventory for

Cabot’s Pueblo MuseumJanuary 2008

Ceramics Inventory for

Cabot’s Pueblo MuseumJanuary 2008

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About the collection:

Cabot Yerxa collected these pieces from 1920 - 1959. Some were gifts from Native American friends, others were purchased. It is probable that several of the pieces are considerably older than 1920. Yerxa’s affinity for Puebloan ceramics was considerable; he made repeated visits through the Southwest and patterned his home after the pueblos he visited there including Taos and Acoma in New Mexico.

In 1925, at the conclusion of his art studies in Europe, Yerxa took a cruise through Mex-ico, Cuba and Panama. He collected the figurines, which may date from pre-Columbian contact, at that time.

At Miracle Hill, he discovered both red and blue clay, which he used to make his own ceramics. Although the quality of his pieces has a certain naive charm, it was his incor-poration of the clay into the adobe blocks from which he made his home that showed his craftsmanship to advantage.

Provenance of the ceramics is based on physical characteristics and an inventory list compiled by Cole Eyraud. It is likely that the collection has dwindled since Yerxa’s death in 1965. This inventory is an attempt to catalog the collection and to establish

the history of these unique works of art. All of the pieces are

hand-built and demon-strate authentic

native ceramic techniques.

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Description Suggested Provinance

Artifact

Polychrome bowl

Polychrome bowl and ladle. Not a matched

set although displayed together.

Zia Pueblo

Polychrome bowl, olla shape. Late Acoma

Polychrome bowl Zia Pueblo

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Artifact Suggested Provinance

Description

Acoma Pueblo Polychrome bowl

Acoma Pueblo Black-on-White bowl

Acoma Pueblo Black-on-White ladle

Acoma Pueblo Black-on-White bowl, olla style

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Description Suggested Provinance

Artifact

Black-on-White bowl Acoma Pueblo

Chaco Black-on-White

1075 - 1150 ce Late Pueblo II

Chaco Canyon

Black Ware bowl Santa Clara Pueblo

Black Ware pitcher Santa Clara Pueblo

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Artifact Suggested Provinance

Description

Hopi bowl

d

Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original

Red Ware bowl with lid

Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original bowl

sphere; material not determined

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Description Suggested Provinance

Artifact

bowl with fluted brim Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original

Red Ware bowl

Cahuilla

Large bowl

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Artifact Suggested Provinance

Description

Rattlesnake vase

d

Casas Grandes (Mexico) Brid effigy vase

Mexico figurine

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Description Suggested Provinance

Artifact

Figurine Mexico

Polychrome figurine Mexico

Arrow shaft straightener, basalt

Stone pipe

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Acoma

Chaco Canyon

Zia

Santa Clara

Cabot Yerxa in Santa Fe, August 1959.

Taos

Map of New Mexico’s Pueblos

A postcard sent from Cabot Yerxa to his wife Portia from Taos, New Mexico.

Cabot Yerxa visited the Southwest many times between 1920 and 1959. He admired the culture of the Pueblo Indians and strove to emulate their craftsmanship