Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande ValleyNorthern Rio GrandeRio Grande HispanicHispanic Utility-Plain WareCasitas Red-on-brown

Type Name: Casitas Red-on-brown

Period: 1762 A.D. - 1900 A.D.
Culture: Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande Valley
Branch: Northern Rio Grande
Tradition: Rio Grande Hispanic
Ware: Hispanic Utility-Plain Ware


First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2014

Casitas Red-on-brown was described by Hurt and Dick (1946) and later assigned this name by Dick (1968). This type is characterized by a range of partially slipped plain ware thought to reflect Pueblo-likepottery forms produced at Hispanic villages across wide areas of the Rio Grande Valley from the late Colonial through the Territorial periods (Carrillo 1997; Dick 1968 Levine 1990; 2001). Forms described here as Casitas Red-on-brown seem to be similar to pottery labeled by Harlow (1970) as Tortugas Red-on-orange which was alluded to as a type associated with poorly known pottery produced along the lower Rio Grande during the historic period. This type is postulated by Dick (1968) to have been produced from A.D. 1672 to 1890, while a later starting date sometime during the seventeenth century have been postulated by others.

Paste is pink, light brown, to light reddish brown to reddish yellow. Red slip on Casitas Red-on-brown generally does not continue over the exterior jar lip into the interior, and bowls have no exterior decoration except for the remnants of a red band just under the rim. The red slip on Casitas red tends to be more smeared and less evenly applied than noted on San Juan red-on-tan and may have been applied with a rag. Such conventions may also be reflected by areal variation of temper and degree of polish. Another characteristic of this type are the occasional presence of very crude designs applied in this the red slip including scrolls, circles, and wide lines. Designs are often weak and smeared and appear to have been applied with a cloth rather than a brush. Splattering of slip across the surface is common enough to suggest it was sometimes an intentional effect.

References:
Carrillo, Charles M.
1997 Hispanic New Mexican Pottery: Evidence of Craft Specialization 1790-1890, LPBD Press, Albuquerque.

Dick, Herbert
1968 Six Historic Pottery Types from Spanish Sites in new Mexico. In Collected Papers in Honor of Lyndon L. Hargrave, edited by A.H. Schroeder, pp. 77-94. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No.1, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

Harlow, Francis H.
1970 Historic Pueblo Indian Pottery: Painted Jars and Bowls of the Period 1600-1900. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

Levine, Daisy

1990 Tewa or Hispanic Manufacture? Pottery from 1th and 19th Century Spanish Sites Near Abiquiu. In Clues to the Past: Papers in Honor of William M. Sundt, edited by M.S. Durah and D.T. Kirkpatrick. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No. 16, Albuquerque.

2004 Native Ceramic Analysis and Interpretations. In Adaptations on the Anasazi and Spanish Frontiers; Excavation at Five sites near Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, by James L. Moore, Jeffrey Boyer, and Daisy Levine. pp 147-168. Office of Archaeological Studies Arcaheology Notes 187, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Hurt, Wesley R., and Herbert Dick
1946 Spanish-American Pottery from New Mexico. El Palacio 53(1).




Related Photos

Casitas Red-on-brown

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl sherd

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl sherd

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl sherd

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl (interior)

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl (exterior)

Casitas Red-on-brown bowl (exterior)