Zuni Water Pot, ca. 1890
Appraised Value:
$8,000 - $10,000
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video:
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: Well, it belonged to my husband's great-grandfather, who, I heard, purchased it in Peru many years ago, and it's been in the family since then, and that's about all I know.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: I'm not really even sure if it came from Peru or not, but...
APPRAISER: Well, this is actually a piece of Pueblo pottery from the American Southwest, from Zuni Pueblo.
GUEST: Oh. Okay.
APPRAISER: Okay? And it dates to about 1890.
GUEST: Oh. Okay.
APPRAISER: And this particular piece was what we call a water jar. We can tell this by the shape and by the size. We also have what we call some ethnographic wear on the piece. As you'll see, this slight damage on the rim here, this was caused by the ladle that they would have used to dip water from the pot.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And, also, you can see this white mineralization here around this upper shoulder. That's from water as it sits in the jar and seeps out.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: The jar is really a beautiful shape. We can see that it has sort of a nice little barrel shape that is indicative of the 1890s, from the Zuni area. The decoration includes this floral medallion on the front. Also it includes the Zuni rain bird, and then it has a polychrome fine-line pattern on the neck up here.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: There's a little fine line. And here's some more here. The actual shape of the piece is a little unbalanced, but that's okay.
GUEST: I had noticed that.
APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah. Have you ever been curious about the value of this piece?
GUEST: Yes, ma'am, I'm curious to know. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, because it does have a few condition problems, still, in its present condition at an insurance level, the value would be between $8,000 and $10,000.
GUEST: Oh, wow, that's wonderful. Thank you.
