"Zuñi Pottery" Photogravure by Edward S. Curtis c. 1925
ABOUT
A study of form and collective history, this original 1925 photogravure by Edward S. Curtis captures a cluster of Zuni ceramic jars. Titled "Zuni Pottery," the image was originally published as a text-facing plate in Volume XVII of Curtis’s multi-decade survey of the American West.
This piece is a tactile record of early 20th-century craftsmanship, rendered on heavy Van Gelder Dutch paper. The image is physically pressed into the fibers, leaving a distinct, recessed plate mark that defines the work's structural depth. Its provenance is uniquely preserved by a University of Oregon Library mark on the lower margin—a stamp that anchors the piece to its original home as part of a scholarly bound volume.
- CREATOR Edward S. Curtis (1868 - 1952). Subject: Sia (Zia) Pueblo, New Mexico. Subject: Tohono O'odham (Papago), Arizona.
- PROVENANCE: Ex Libris, University of Oregon Library.
- DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1925.
- MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES Medium: Original photogravure on Van Gelder paper.
- CONDITION Good. This print and vintage Van Gelder overmat are in very good condition overall. There is very minor rippling at the print margins, particularly at the lower left corner, primarily visible in raking light.
- DIMENSIONS Image: 7 in. x 8.5 in., Sheet 12.25 in. x 9.5 in.
HISTORY
Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952) left an enduring mark on the history of photography in his 20-volume life's work, The North American Indian. Between 1900 and 1930, Curtis traveled across the continent photographing more than seventy Native American tribes. The photographs presented daily activities, customs, and religions of a people he called “a vanishing race.
PHOTOGRAVURES | The vast majority of his prints, approximately 98%, were printed as photogravures, and virtually all them were produced for The North American Indian. Curtis used two standard sizes, 5 x 7″ (or reverse), and approximately 12 x 16″ (or reverse). He favored three hand-made papers: Japanese Vellum, Dutch “Van Gelder,” and Japanese “Tissue,” also known as India Proof Paper.
