Zuni Frog Effigy Bowl, ca. 1880
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GUEST:
It belonged to my grandparents. My dad was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He remembers it being in the house. His mom collected Native American artifacts and bowls and rugs and stuff like that. I do not know where it came from. She never really told us. He didn't know. My parents, after they acquired it, tried to research it and couldn't get any information on it, and then it passed down to me, and I just really wanted to come to the ROADSHOW for my mom's sake to find out what the heck it is, and what it's used for, and, you know, how old it is. Because to me, it looks like it's really old.
APPRAISER:
It does have age, it is quite old. It's 19th-century. I think perhaps circa 1880 would be a reasonably accurate guess. That's a good period for Native American pottery. Do you know what pueblo it's from?
GUEST:
I do not know, no.
APPRAISER:
Okay, it's from the Zuni tribe.
GUEST:
Oh, Zuni.
APPRAISER:
This is a piece of pottery made for the tribe, not made to be sold. It's made from the coil method, where they roll the pottery into long coils, turn it around, squish it down with a stone or a rag, and create the pot. In this case, they molded these frogs on top of that coiled jar. Rather amazing.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It's called a frog bowl, a kiva bowl. Frogs are kind of magical, mysterious creatures. A little puddle might develop on the pueblo, suddenly there are tadpoles mysteriously appearing.
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
And within a very short time, these tadpoles turn into frogs.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This is rather mysterious and magical.
GUEST:
Yes, it is.
APPRAISER:
And the native people absolutely paid attention to this. Oh, that's interesting. So this has to do with regeneration. It's, water and rainfall is critical amongst the pueblos.
GUEST:
Oh, it would be.
APPRAISER:
So this would be a pot made to cause rainfall. You notice how each of the frogs has a little bit of red pigment in the mouth?
GUEST:
Yes, I did, uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
That's an envivifying color. Brings the pot to life.
GUEST:
Yes, it does.
APPRAISER:
Red is a color associated with the upper world. And that's where the rainfall comes from. Native religions are animistic. That means everything has a soul.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So this pot, in a sense, is a living entity.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
It has a soul.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And it may have been fed with things like cornmeal. So it was something that was maintained and kept alive.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
A typical frog pot maybe has three to four frogs. Here we have six.
GUEST:
Wow, okay.
APPRAISER:
That, I'm sure, intensified its power. Yes, that's a powerful little bowl. Do you notice along the bottom there are deer?
GUEST:
Yes, I noticed that.
APPRAISER:
And then there's a red arrow that points to the deer's heart. Those are called heartlines. And that's the center of energy of the deer, a very spiritual place.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So you have frogs that are sort of magically emerging from the mud.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then deer that occupy the middle terrain. It's a really nice pot, and very desirable. I would value this on a retail basis about $5,000.
GUEST:
Okay, wow.
APPRAISER:
And whoever got it would be quite thrilled to own it.
GUEST:
Yes, yes, very thrilled. Thank you so much. My mother would be so pleased.
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