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A beautiful, historic Zia Pueblo, NM polychrome pottery decorative tile by Trinidad Gachupin Medina, c.1930’s-40’s
One of the finest and most renowned Pueblo potters of the 20th Century was Trinidad Gachupin Medina (1884-1969)
of the ancient 13th Century Keresan Indian Pueblo of Zia, 35 miles or so northwest of present-day Albuquerque, New Mexico. Medina is well known for her graphically powerful and dynamic pottery vessels, often featuring interesting and compelling combinations of various bird designs and distinctively strong geometric elements using stylized bird feathers and/or feather tips such as those seen on this pottery tile.
Like the great Hopi pottery Matriarch, Nampeyo of Hano (1859-1942), a generation before her, Trinidad Medina enjoyed
a very high degree of artistic recognition and public acclaim during her lifetime as a master Pueblo potter. At various numerous times between 1930 and1946 she actually toured around the United States demonstrating her pottery-making skills in department stores and at public expositions such as Chicago’s 1933 Century of Progress and The 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. This particular pottery tile was quite possibly a souvenir product of one of these many various pottery demonstrations. Trinidad Medina eventually became so well known as a “cultural ambassador” for her Pueblo pottery-making demonstrations that there is today an official New Mexico state highway marker dedicated to her legacy near the Zia Pueblo. (see below).
Photo of Trinidad Medina entitled “On A Sia Housetop”.
Photo source and © by Edward S. Curtis, 1925
Photo source and © New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program.
In this beautifully made decorative pottery tile, Medina depicts a symmetrical panel of two opposing sets of three repeating parallel stylized feather tip designs spaced at equal intervals on both sides of the tile facing each other in
a pleasing and compelling composition, which, rather remarkably, works equally well when viewed both horizontally or vertically. This general design scheme has often been fancifully characterized as being Medina’s “Skyscraper” design suggesting rows of tall buildings of varying heights. The quality and detail of the painting and the control, interplay and precision of the overall design scheme here are excellent. There is often an interestingly Modernist feel to certain of Trinidad Medina’s painted designs and it is quite apparent here in the visual arrangement and the distinct sense of motion and dynamism the designs impart.
“One of the most notable Zia potters of her generation and arguably in the history of Zia pottery, she traveled throughout the United States introducing non-Indians to the arts and culture of her community and Pueblo culture in general. Her elaborate designs won numerous prizes at the Santa Fe Indian Market.”
-New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program
The tile measures 6 3/4" by 5 3/8" and it is 7/16" in thickness. The piece is unsigned as befits its time period and as Trinidad Medina’s pottery pieces usually were, but we are confident in our attribution of the tile to Trinidad Medina as
a comparison with the design elements of a documented Trinidad Medina pottery jar (shown above) clearly indicates.
The tile is in excellent original condition overall with some age-appropriate scuffing and abrasion wear as befits its 90 or so years of age. An ultra-violet light examination of the tile reveals no restoration or overpainting in evidence.
This beautiful decorative Zia Pueblo pottery tile is a wonderful artistic window into the traditional creation by a traditional Native artist of a non-traditional, non-utilitarian pottery form made for sale to a larger, markedly different non-Native outside world. Nevertheless and notably, the skilled hands and inspired sensibility of a master Pueblo artist still infused this non-Pueblo foreign object with an exceptional degree of traditional Pueblo artistry and beauty.
Please note that the acyrlic display stand shown here is for demonstartion purposes only and is not incuded in
the purchase of this pottery tile. If desired, we can recommend a source for purchasing such display stands.
Price $1,150
Note the distinct similarities between the repeating stacked geometric designs in the documented Trinidad Medina jar above and the tile below. Also worth noting is the exact same color and texture of the red and black paint and the white surface slip in the two pottery pieces.