Artist: D. Victorino
Tribe: Acoma
Dimensions: 3 ½ x 3 ¾
Acoma is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements on the planet. Their pottery style is characterized by fluted rims and thin walls. When it comes to decorations, the Acoma are known for their fine line work as well as their geometric patterns. A variety of elements and symbols appear in their art like hatch patterns symbolizing rain as well as other patterns that symbolize elements found in nature.
Their pottery provided a variety of functions including water jugs, dough bowls, cooking vessels, and seed pots like the one depicted here. Seed pots were an effective means of preserving seeds for planting season and would have been broken to release the seeds needed for planting. Sometimes the seed pots were created with only one tiny hole to allow for one seed to be dropped at a time. This enclosure also protected the seeds from rodents and other pests.
D. Victorino created this seed pot using the traditional coil and scrape method. The vessel is enclosed except for one tiny hole at the time. The piece is decorated with symbolic geometric patterns that are characteristic of the area.
