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Image of Untitled Diné Vase

Deanna Tso

Native American

Untitled Diné Vase
1994

Earthenware
6.75 x 5 x 5 in.
Gift of the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation
1995.17

Deanna Tso’s Untitled Diné Vase is a glimpse into the development of Diné (Navajo) ceramics. As a historically nomadic people, the Diné did not generate a ceramics tradition as did their agriculturally minded neighbors in the Southwest. Trade with European settlers was established early, and the Diné were able to trade for iron and tin cooking vessels, making the production of pottery less necessary. Diné ceramic vessels discovered along the San Juan River date back only to the mid-eighteenth century. As interest in Native American ceramics on the part of collectors and tourists grew in the twentieth century, Diné craftspeople began to develop their own ceramics skills in order to compete in the Hopi, Acoma, and Laguna ceramics trade.

Early Navajo vessels were purely functional, with ritual and religious prohibitions against decoration and depiction. Thus, in contrast to many of the traditions of the Southwest, Diné potters relied on texture and vibrant glazes as decoration. In Untitled Diné Vase, the coiled ruffle around the rim is a bold exploration of decorative possibilities within the restraints of traditional Navajo culture.

Matthew Limb

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Unearthed | The NEHMA Ceramics Collection & The Woman Behind It
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Ceramics
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Native American Objects
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Unearthed | 1990s and Beyond

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