From Pre-Columbian to Post-Tourist
ROBERT F. NICHOLS, a gallery owner in Santa Fe, N.M., said the large storage or water jar at left was made about 1880 "before the railroads came to the Southwest, bringing tourists who bought pottery that resulted in a change of decorative styles."
This Zuni Pueblo jar and about 150 other pieces are included in the fourth annual show and sale of Indian pottery of the American Southwest at Kelter/Malce, an antiques shop at 361 Bleecker Street (Charles Street) in Greenwich Village. The show will run from Feb. 1 to 16.
The show includes "prehistoric" pottery (from the 9th to the 12th centuries), "historic" pottery (from 1800 to 1950) and contemporary pottery. "Some people only collect one kind," said Jolie Kelter, an owner of the New York gallery, which will be decorated like a trading post for the event.
Prices will range from $40 for a new piece to $18,000 for the jar shown at left. "You can't buy an old pot for $100," Ms. Kelter said, "but that would be enough to get quite a nice contemporary one."
"Many of the contemporray pieces are signed," she continued, "and many are bought directly from the potter, so that we know who made them. What is most fascinating is how one kind of pot influenced another over time and generations."
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