Featured Acoma pottery help

I just got these yesterday and know very little about them. Paid five dollars each. I don’t really see any age, but I am curious if the signatures on any of these are known. I haven’t been able to find anything. Would like to know your opinions and are these extremely new or at least 60, 70s or 80s? The openings on the two smaller ones are not 100% perfect and the walls appear thin. The last image shows the condition they were in before I cleaned them up. They were dirty, and scuff. Also the tall 10 inch vase was easy to clean with mild soap and water. However the two small ones sucked up the water very fast. It was difficult to keep them wet. Don’t know if that means anything.

I like them

thank you for looking

 

I like the turtle.

 

They are all modern enough that I would expect them to say Acoma (or another Pueblo) on the bottom if they were made there. The tall vase may be decorated with acrylic paint, which would make it more water resistant, as opposed to the traditional clay slips. I do not recognize the signatures. But I am sure @Taupou can say more.

 

Thank you INH, for given me leads to follow. Reyes work is beautiful. I am seeing two different colors of clay and trying to figure if it is age or impurities.


Indeed the turtle is my fav, at the moment . Trying to find its significance as I see others with a turtle.

 

My thoughts exactly, as they drank like a sponge.


Thank you 2many.

 

Oooops! My bad, just notice that I did not upload the last item signature on bottom. I just notice after rereading 2many’s post. (Acoma). Nailed it!

 

Think turtles represent longevity, but one of our experts may know better.

 

I bet the turtle one would sell well whether it’s a known artist or not and even if it’s very new. It’s got a good look.

 

They are all painted greenware, "ceramics" as opposed to "pottery" in Acoma terminology. As such, the value is a fraction of what the value would be if they were traditionally made, by digging and preparing the clay, making the colored slips, and firing it traditionally.

In this case, the potter buys the pot already made, from a mold, available in supply stores in Gallup or Albuquerque, and then paints it, fires it in an electric kiln, and sells it to tourists. The value is all in the painting, compared to being in the pottery itself. Which is not to say that it isn't well-done, and requires considerable skill to produce.

But as far as considering resale value, the "fake Acoma" Mexican pot has negligible value, the other two decorative value only, as opposed to something a collector would be interested in.

(And since this type of pottery isn't glazed, it's not waterproof, so exposing it to moisture will ruin it!)

 

In many, if not most, Native American cultures the turtle symbolizes the earth/Mother Earth. The turtle carries our world in a vast ocean, a concept that is also known in Hinduism.
Some NA cultures call North America 'Turtle Island', a name which has become widespread in the development of NA spirituality over the last decades.

Lakota Holy Man John Fire Lame Deer said that when as a child he couldn't play outside because of the rain, his grandmother told him to draw a turtle on the ground. He said it worked, the rain stopped.

 

Thank you @Taupou, very good information to know *thumbs up*. decorative is all I was looking for. They will go on for sale, thanks to you, accurately listed

Thank you AJ for your knowledge too

Anyone know if the large vase is an eagle or other bird?

 

It is a double-headed bird, which I have seen before on Acoma pottery. Also on archaeological finds. Maybe mythological?

 

Thank you...

 

Even though they are indoors, my turtles tend to hole up on rainy days. Think they don't like being hit on the head by raindrops.

 

Maybe that is why the Lakota (or at least his grandmother) thought of drawing a turtle in the first place.