Acomita polychrome water jar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The earliest Acomita water jars are distinguished by short, undecorated necks, bulbous mid-bodies, and dark concave underbodies. This example features a spiral configuration, possibly an abstract bird, painted against a white, open background on each side. The head, rectangular eye, and beak flow into the geometric shapes that may be stylized feathers and the bird’s body. In traditional Pueblo thought, birds and feathers are associated with prayers for rain, germination, and fertility.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art