“In this mural the artist has attempted to . . . put on canvas for the observers to see what the Zuni pottery maker has in her conscious and subconscious mind as she makes her pot, the traditions of gathering and working the clay, the religious beliefs and fervor, the history of her people and their traditions which go to make up this her work [sic],” wrote Anna Keener Wilton1 of her painting Zuni Pottery Makers in a 1942 thesis for her master’s degree from the University of New Mexico.2
In her essay, Keener Wilton positions Zuni Pottery Makers as a documentary painting—based on anthropological and ethnographic research, at least one interview with a potter, and, presumably, her own firsthand observations—that illustrates the A:Shiwi (Zuni) pottery-making process step by step. Keener Wilton’s mural is organized around a central master potter (more on her later). As she explains it, the narrative begins with the figure in the top right starting her journey to gather clay from the distant mesas by, “in accordance with the tradition of the pot maker . . . cast[ing] over her shoulder a stone, so that her strength may not fail her.” The same figure is depicted at top left “returning with a load of clay, as much as a hundred and fifty pounds in her blanket, the ends tied and banded across her forehead.” Keener Wilton continues, “in the left foreground we see the next step of the process, the clay being kneaded,” and explains that potters knead the clay to such a fine texture “that the fingers can no longer guide the senses; then it is tested with the tongue as portrayed by the figure above the kneader.” Finally, “to the observer’s right are to be seen the youthful apprentices, forming in the age-old method of their ancestors, the pots of modern Zuni.”3
Zuni Pottery Makers also documents the evolution of A:Shiwi pottery designs. As Keener Wilton writes: “By the use of panels in the composition the artist has attempted to portray the various stages in the development of pottery design from the earliest known period to the present day.” Early designs are replicated in the upper left, later designs in the upper right, and contemporary designs in the middle. “Along the border at the base of the composition are six relatively modern designs . . . of a religious nature.” She also states that she “wishes to point out that every example of design portrayed on the mural has been found in existence in or near Gallup, New Mexico” (though certain designs have been questioned by present-day potters).
In addition to diagramming the process and development of A:Shiwi pottery, Keener Wilton puts forth several major contentions in her essay: a) for a Zuni potter, “her work is born with her”; b) Zuni pottery is the highest form and full expression of Zuni culture; and, c) Zuni potters are great artists. In support of these statements, she places at the center of her mural a potter referred to in her essay as “Mrs. Poncho”4—one of her primary sources for her thesis. Mrs. Poncho is shown demonstrating “how she . . . measures [the pot] by spreading her hands so as to obtain the exact spacing for the design she has visualized,” which is pictured above her head “surrounded by a halo.” In her essay, Keener Wilton quotes Mrs. Poncho as saying, “I always know just how the jar will look before I start to paint it. I just think and think; then I draw what I think.” She goes on to assert her artistic genius as being able to conceive of the pot and design in unison and defends against assumptions of “mere decoration.”
Zuni Pottery Makers was likely installed in the wall of the original County Commission chambers of the historic McKinley County Courthouse soon after it was built. It still hangs in that location, which is now the District Attorney’s office.
