Featured Help Identify 3 Acoma Pots

I have three pots that I found and purchased at a Good Will shop near Palm Springs today. They are undamaged, with no chips or cracks. I cannot believe my luck!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find out anything about the artists. They all have common family names but I wasn't able to find the individuals. I'd also love to know about the pattern names and meaning.

The largest pot is black and white painted crosses signed L. Antonio on the bottom. It measures about 7" x 7".

The second pot is black and white etched sgraffito signed Laguna, Acoma LC / GD or GP. It measures 4.5" x 6".

The third pot is 6" x 6" signed signed J. Garcia.

Thank you for your help!

 

Lovely!

 

Thank you -- I am quite in love with them!

 

@Potteryplease
@2manybooks

 

Wow, that's quite a find for the Goodwill.

 

I'm seeing a few online signed "L. Antonio" (the first pot), so yours isn't a one-off. Very nice!

https://www.rubylane.com/item/1721295-7896/Large-Navajo-Seed-Pot-Vase-L

 

They looks authentic to me. Super great finds!

They do not look old to me. 'Contemporary', I'd call them.

The thing I'd be most interested to determine, if I were you, is if they are merely 'painted by' the artists who've signed, of if they were hand-made by those artists.

Hand-made pots can be determined by irregularities in shape. Try gently spinning them and see if the shape of the pot is symmetrical. If perfectly so, you have a manufactured 'blank' that was subsequently painted and then likely fired in an electric kiln--a quicker and more efficient process.

The more desirable (and valuable) pots are, on the other hand, ones that are hand-processed: hand-shaped clay built up through the coil method, hand painted, and then fired in a traditional outdoor kiln. That process takes a lot more time and skill, hence the increased desirability.

 

@Taupou

 

Thanks for a good lesson, Potts!

 

Wow -- what a beauty! I missed this completely. Thanks.

Thanks for the great information! I believe they're hand-made but can't tell how they were fired -- there are no ash marks on the glaze. They appear authentic to me too though. The craftsmanship is spectacular in person.