A Fine McCartys Polychrome Pictorial Jar

circa 1885-90, with concave base, rounded shoulder and a tapering neck, finely painted in orange, dark red and brown against a white slip, with a pair of birds, each with a diamond-design on its breast, standing on a flowering branch and nibbling berries, all beneath a scalloped band. 

For related examples and a discussion of McCarty’s pottery please see Francis H. Harlow, Two Hundred Years of Historic Pueblo Pottery: The Gallegos Collection, 1990, plates 17 – 20, 23, 25 and 26: “For many centuries birds have occupied a very special position in the sacred ceremonial activities of the Pueblo Indians. Feathers from eagles and wild turkeys adorn their dance costumes and are used in various religious activities. In the ruins of a twelfth century village were discovered the remains of a macaw that had been transported from Central America. It was, no doubt, revered as a most sacred being by the Indians, who may well have traded turquoise for it. As late as 1880, a species of wild parrot ventured as far north as Acoma, and to this day can be found along the southern border between Arizona and New Mexico.

Attempted Spanish suppression of the Pueblo Indian religion was only partly successful during the years that the two cultures lived in uneasy co-existence, but by 1800 much of the sacred symbology on Pueblo pottery was gone, or so highly abstracted as to be nearly unrecognizable. Bird depictions are to be found during the early 1800s, but they are rare, occurring principally at Zuni and Zia. Only as the cultural surroundings altered and the United States took possession (in 1847) did realistic bird figures begin to appear again in some profusion. At Acoma, beginning with McCartys Polychrome, circa 1870, there suddenly was a profusion of charming birds depicted with considerable realism. These take several forms, among the most common and recognizable being the parrot. Each parrot, so recognized by the configuration of its beak, perches Acoma-style on a sprig of foliage as it eats some wild berries. Zia birds more commonly perch on a framing line or other structure directly below them, while Acoma birds grasp a stem that is somewhat more in front. Much care is usually taken to show the individual claws of the Acoma bird curled around the stem. There is usually a diamond figure on the body of the parrot, a semi-circular open area at the back end, and two or three distinct tail feathers. A plume or crest usually lies along the head and back of the neck.”