19th Century Cochiti Pottery??? Please Help!!!

[Grapher]

I'm not familiar with Cochiti pottery, but I took a liking to this piece. Before I buy it, I want to make sure it's authentic. Does anyone have any opinions on its authenticity? The price tag says it's 1890-1900 and they're only asking $78. It measures about 4" across.

 

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[Old Pueblo]

Im not an expert, but the tag does look like it could be right. It does look like old pottery from here in the Southwest. If not c.1900, it could be even older. Its a nice looking piece and I wouldnt say $78 is unreasonable. If its a antique shop you're looking in, the owner may even be willing to negotiate on price a little. I would definitely consider it.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Is there any shiny looking glaze on this piece, or is it just paint?

 

[Grapher]

I think it's just paint. I saw it today while at a antique mall. I plan on going back tomorrow to look at it closer.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Thats a good sign of old age. Southwestern Indians didnt use glaze back then.

 

[joshuaream]

A couple of things that don't jive with what the tag says.

A lot of the Cochiti Pueblo material I've seen is an orange clay with the white slip & black decoration. The base clay is a little lighter than I am used to seeing.
The slip is also cracked/crazed, I don't normally see that on trade pots. (It looks like it was buried or sat outside.)
The black over the white is really crudely done. The dots in the triangle would usually be better executed.

That said the price is pretty low, so maybe you've got an older example made before trade really ramped up the quality of pieces? It could also be a practice piece.

 

[Grapher]

I'll post some better pics after I buy it later today.

 

[rock]

Looks to be some cracking like a glaze by the handle. Looks old but I cant say how old.

 

[Old Pueblo]

The cracking by the handle makes me think its more modern (1890s), like the tag says, than prehistoric or something. And it could have been made by a child, which is why the paint job is a little crude.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I've seen a lot of Cochiti. This one smells. It's not a child's work - the pot is not typical and the form is too refined for a child. It looks like fingerpainting. The base and the Domingo white slip look wrong. There is no polishing of the slip. Although these pots were not "glazed" the many thin layers of white polished slip and organic black paint were fired.

Here are some Cochiti examples. Look at the white slip and the red ground. Those are the colors I would expect to see in even an older Cochiti piece. The white is too white for Cochiti bentonite and too thin to be Salado white. It looks more like whitewash than a fine fired white Cochiti slip.

Cochiti is well known for it's quality and style. This looks more like an elementary school project.

 

[Grapher]

I ended up buying it for $55. Here are some better pics of pottery.