The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 17, 2025
Water Jar (Olla) with Rainbird
1850–60
Overall: 25.5 x 33 cm (10 1/16 x 13 in.)
Gift of Amelia Elizabeth White 1937.898
Location: 231 Native North American
Description
Zuni (A:shiwi) women used ollas (oy-ahs) like this one to collect, carry, and store water. The water well was a place for socializing, and the vessels’ public visibility may help to explain their elaborate, deftly painted decoration—here an abstract creature called the Rainbird whose beak spirals between two stylized, stepped wings that may allude to moisture-bearing clouds. Milford Nahohai, the contemporary Zuni potter, believes the motif is inspired by rain clouds that roll into the Zuni River Valley, their leading edges curled under the main mass to form a curve like that of the beak.- Bergh, Susan E., "Unburied Treasure", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 45 no. 10, December 2005 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4 archive.orgCleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 343"The North Galleries." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 24-29. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 26 archive.orgCleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016.
Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 28 - Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 7-May 30, 2010).CMA 2010: "Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection" March 7 - May 30, 2010
- {{cite web|title=Water Jar (Olla) with Rainbird|url=false|author=|year=1850–60|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1937.898