Inventory of Cabot's Pueblo Museum Pottery

Ceramics Inventory for Cabot’s Pueblo Museum January 2008

- Photographed / compiled by Jane Pojawa

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 Mexico, 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 incorporation 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 demonstrate authentic native ceramic techniques.

—2—

Description

Suggested Provinance

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

—3—

Artifact

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

—4—

Description

Suggested Provinance

Black-on-White bowl

Acoma Pueblo

Chaco Black-onWhite 1075 - 1150 ce Late Pueblo II

Chaco Canyon

Black Ware bowl

Santa Clara Pueblo

Black Ware pitcher

Santa Clara Pueblo

—5—

Artifact

Artifact

Suggested Provinance

Description

Hopi

bowl

Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original

Red Ware bowl with lid

Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original

bowl

d

sphere; material not determined

—6—

Description

bowl with fluted brim

Suggested Provinance Possibly Cabot Yerxa’s original

Red Ware bowl

Cahuilla

Large bowl

—7—

Artifact

Artifact

Suggested Provinance

Description

Rattlesnake vase

Casas Grandes (Mexico)

Brid effigy vase

Mexico

figurine

d

—8—

Description

Suggested Provinance

Figurine

Mexico

Polychrome figurine

Mexico

Arrow shaft straightener, basalt

Stone pipe

—9—

Artifact

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

Chaco Canyon

Taos Santa Clara

Zia Acoma

Cabot Yerxa in Santa Fe, August 1959.

Map of New Mexico’s Pueblos 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

— 10 —