First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2013

Kechipawan Polychrome was defined by Colton and Hargrave (1937). This type refers to distinct forms associated with the middle part of the Zuni glaze ware sequence from about A.D. 1375 to 1475 (Dittert and Plog 1980; Reed 1955; Woodbury and Woodbury 1966).

Pottery assigned to this type displays both matte red and glaze paint on the white slip on bowl interiors and jar exteriors. Both interior and exterior surfaces of bowls are cream to yellow. Temper is crushed sherd and paste is white, cream, pink, or tan in color. Bowl exteriors usually consist of a simple encircling connected meander or isolated element where red was outlined by glaze black lines. Decorations on bowl interiors are often represented by a broad band decorated with geometric elements, stylized bird, feather, animal, or human motifs. Forms outlined by glaze paint were filled in by red matte paint. The increasing use of life forms in complicated designs may reflect influences from Hopi pottery (Lammon and Harlow 2008). Pottery assigned to Kechipawan Polychrome is similar to examples from Acoma sometimes assigned to Alpha and Beta Polychrome (Lammon and Harlow 2013).

References:
Colton, Harold S. and Lyndon L. Hargrave
1937 Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Wares. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No. 11, Flagstaff.

Dittert, Alfred E, and Fred Plog
1980 Generations in Clay; Pueblo Pottery of the American Southwest. Northland Press, Flagstaff.

Lammon, Dwight P. and Francis H. Harlow
2008 The Pottery of Zuni Pueblo. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

2013 The Pottery of Acoma Pueblo. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

Reed, Eric K.
1955 Painted Types and Zuni History. Southwest Journal of Anthropology 11(5):178-193.

Woodbury, Richard, and Nathalie F.S. Woodbury
1966 Appendix II: Decorated Pottery of the Zuni Area. In The Excavations of Hawikuh by Fredrick Webb Hodge: Report o the Hedricks-Hodge Expedition 1917-1923, edited by W Smith, R. B. Woodbury, and N.F. S. Woodbury, pp. 302-336. Contributions from the Museum of American Indian Heye Foundation Vol, 20. New York.

Related Photos

Kechipawan bowl sherd (interior surface)

Kechipawan bowl sherd (exterior surface)

Kechipawan Polycrome bowl (Interior View)

Kechipawan Polycrome (Side View)

Kechipawan Polycrome bowl (Interior View)

Kechipawan Polycrome (Side View)

Kechipawan Polychrome bowl (Interior View)

Kechipawan Polychrome bowl (Exterior View)