Papago Black on Red Pottery Bowl

Stylized wing designs encircle this earthy bowl.

Pristine objects are admirable, but so are those touting their hand-made quality.

This potter dug the clay, worked it to become elastic enough to form coils, shaped the bowl's walls using paddle and anvil.  Slip was applied, then the bowl's interior and exterior were polished before being fired in a pit.

"The Tohono O'odham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Tohono O'odham means "Desert People." The federally recognized tribe is known in the United States as the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The Tohono O'odham Nation or Indian Reservation is a major reservation located in southern Arizona, where it encompasses portions of three counties: Pima, Pinal and Maricopa in the United States. It also extends into the Mexican state of Sonora." Wikipedia

Near the turn of the century the label Papago Indians was rejected by citizens of this tribe, as "Papago"  referenced them as "bean eaters", which they considered unflattering.