How to date unsigned Pueblo pottery?

Does anyone have any tips on how to date unsigned Pueblo pottery?

In particular, I struggle to get a general sense of when Hopi pieces and when San Ildefonso and Santa Clara blackware were all produced.

Thank you for any advice!

 

I'm just guessing but some of them look fairly old to me.

 

u need to talk with a seasoned SW art dealer........

 

And is that something I'd just send an email to initiate? How does that work?

There is a local shop that would qualify, but I'd assume he doesn't just do random off-the-cuff assessments.

 

any honest dealer or gallery selling SW pottery should be happy to engage you in conversation as to the pots you have.

An appraisal....if u want to go there....in this time of covid...may require you to send high quality photo's and descriptions of the items in question.

 

@Taupou might be able to give some idea

 

A very good introduction to the changing styles is:
Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni, by Allan Hayes & John Blom. Northland Publishing, 1996.

 

Yeah, thank you. I have both editions of that great book and they are my go-to for info.

There's some Hopi pots pictured in them from the 1930s and then some from the 50s (and even one from the 80s!) that I struggle to tell apart. The continuity of style is awesome of course, but it also sometimes makes it hard for me to tell much difference in age, esp when they're unsigned.

No matter: I pretty much love 'em all!

 

And here's a unsigned, hard-for-me to identify bowl I found this past weekend. I took Komokwa's advice and emailed a gallery in Santa Fe. They emailed me back this morning and ID'd it as most likely a utilitarian bowl from Ohkay Owinge (formerly San Juan Pueblo). So thanks for those tips too!!

Now as for age.... ????

 

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It may be that the fact they are not signed will be your best approximation of date. @Taupou may be able to say when potters started signing their work.

 

I'm afraid there isn't just one answer, it varied from tribe to tribe, and sometimes depended on the individual potter. There was resistance to do so, since some though it was unnecessarily drawing attention to ones work, which they believed rightfully belonged to the tribe as a whole.

Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso is usually credited with being the first to sign with her name, in 1923. In the 1920s at Hopi, some potters were also signing with a symbol or hallmark, and some potters were signing with their tribal affiliation, such as Acoma and Laguna.

By the 1930s several Santa Clara potters were signing with their names. It wasn't until the 1960s that it became common practice among most tribes, although some, such as Jemez, still sign only with their initials and tribal affiliation.