1989.29.FA Santa Cruz red-on-buff: bighorn sheep effigy vessel (Arizona, Hohokam)

The Hohokam people, who lived in present-day south central Arizona, had developed a significant pottery tradition by about 500 CE. Hohokam ceramics are easily recognized by their buff‑colored clay and dark red painting. Fluid brushwork, spontaneous in effect yet precisely controlled, depicts both highly stylized life forms and a variety of geometric motifs. Designs are usually organized in concentric circular bands or repeated to create an allover pattern. This example features a bighorn sheep, covered with a series of line-work and geometric motifs.

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Jar with zigzag pattern (1988.105.FA)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 54.

Hohokam: AAT: 300016928

Southwestern North American styles (Pre-Columbian): AAT: 300016920

Arizona (state): TGN: 7006451

Hohokam Village (inhabited place): TGN: 2394694

Southwest (general region): TGN: 4010660

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

clay: AAT: 300010439

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

slip (clay): AAT: 300010459

slip glaze: AAT: 300015110

glazing (coating): AAT: 300053914

incising: AAT: 300053847

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

containers (receptacles): AAT: 300197197

buff (color): AAT: 300263546

red (color): AAAT: 300126225

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

geometric shape: AAT: 300263819

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

stripes: AAT: 300010230

zigzags (geometric patterns): AAT: 300165028

diamonds (motifs): AAT: 300009791

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395

sheep (animals/ovis genus): AAT: 300250284

horns (animal components): AAT: 300400473

standing: AAT: 300239500

repetition (artistic concept): AAT: 300400861

Santa Cruz Red-on buff (Hohokam pottery styles/Hohokam buff ware): DMA

From 1989: Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, anonymous gift [1], [2], [3], [4]

[1] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated May 16, 1989, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is Bill of Sale (dated September 06, 1988, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

[4] See Collections Records Digital Object File.

Apply to objects where number equals 1989.29.FA