J.F. & Susan Gachupin Jemez Pueblo Polychrome Terraced-Neck Jar, 1991

Jemez polychrome at its most confident. This rounded jar by J.F. and Susan Gachupin opens through a bold stepped, terraced neck — a form that functions as both architectural element and canvas. The high-gloss white slip carries hand-painted feather motifs in graphite black, cream, and warm orange across the shoulder, above a sweeping matte black lower field. A turquoise cross-hatched border frames the terraced opening; mirrored stepped cloud-and-rain terraces anchor the composition. Flip it to the reverse and you find the payoff: a full radiating feather fan, rendered with the kind of controlled gradation that takes years to own, centered on a set pear-shaped turquoise cabochon — a material accent that locks the painted world to something real and tactile.

The base is signed "Susan / 5/25/91 / J.F. Gachupin / Jemez, N.M." with an incised feather mark — a direct, dated identification of one of Jemez Pueblo's most recognized pottery families. The Gachupins built their reputation on precisely this kind of work: crisp geometric fields, feather imagery drawn with authority, and forms that hold the room. This jar is not decorator pottery. It is a fully realized studio work by named, documented makers, dated to the day it was finished. Collectors of Pueblo revival pottery know that signed, dated, single-session pieces from established families — especially at this scale and technical level — rarely surface at auction without a significant gallery markup attached.

Jemez Pueblo (Walatowa), situated on the Jemez River in north-central New Mexico, holds one of the most active and studied contemporary pottery traditions among the Pueblo communities. The historic Jemez painted ware tradition declined in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; its twentieth-century revival produced a generation of families who rebuilt it from the clay up. The Gachupins are among those families — their work documented in gallery and institutional collections across the region and represented consistently in the Native American art market. This jar, dated May 25, 1991, sits squarely in that mature revival period, when Jemez polychrome had fully found its voice.

CONDITION

Very Good. High-gloss surface is crisp and bright; paint lines are sharp throughout with no fading or flaking. Light scuffing and shelf wear consistent with careful display; the inlaid turquoise cabochon is secure. A few minor surface marks to the white field.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 9" H × 6" Diameter
• Materials: Ceramic with inlaid turquoise cabochon
• Turquoise Stone: Pear-shaped, 6.49mm × 4.20mm × 2.4mm
• Signed underside: "Susan / 5/25/91 / J.F. Gachupin / Jemez, N.M." with incised feather mark
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included