Cochiti Polychrome Pottery

Cochiti Polychrome refers to historic pottery made at Cochiti Pueblo, generally with a light buff to cream slip and black designs, sometimes accented with red. Vessels often show bold floral, geometric, or figurative motifs, including birds and other animals, executed with confident brushwork. Forms include jars, bowls, and orientation-era serving vessels made for both local use and external markets.

Common vessel sizes range from about 120 to 320 mm in diameter and 120 to 300 mm in height. Wall thickness is typically 4 to 7 mm on most serving and storage forms.

Produced at Cochiti Pueblo along the Rio Grande in north-central New Mexico, with wide distribution through trade and sale to other pueblos, regional towns, and collectors.

Cochiti potters became known in the historic period for innovative figurative and effigy forms, and some Cochiti Polychrome pieces show experimentation influenced by tourism and outside demand. In sherd form, identification depends heavily on paste, slip color, and motif style relative to neighboring pueblos.