250207-02 Prehistoric Gila Pottery Bowl; ca 1000-1200 AD / Intact / No Restoration
ca 1000-1200 AD
Size: 4.75" x 10.75"
With some thinning of interior paint but overall in Excellent Condition No restoration.
Pre-historic Gila pottery bowl takes us straight into the heart of the American Southwest, specifically the region south of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, where the Salado people crafted these beauties between roughly 1000 and 1200 AD. Named after the Gila River Basin, Gila Polychrome pottery is one of the standout types of Roosevelt Red Ware, known for its wide distribution—think Tonto Basin, Verde Valley, even as far as Casas Grandes, Mexico.
These bowls were coiled by hand, not thrown on a wheel, using local clay with fine sand temper—nothing fancy, just what the land offered. Fired in an open pit with an oxidizing atmosphere, they’d hit around 600–800°C, turning the clay a brick-red or tan, sometimes with a grayish carbon streak from uneven firing. The real showstopper is the design: interiors coated with a thick, creamy white slip, painted with bold black carbon-based patterns—think scrolls, mazes, or diamond “eyes”—and exteriors slipped in red, often polished to a subtle sheen. You might see a lifeline, a thick band near the rim, or asymmetrical layouts that feel alive, less rigid than earlier styles like Pinto Polychrome.