Water Jar

by Joanna Underwood Blackburn

Bronze (Edition No. 2)
46" Height
$52,000 (plus shipping)
Available in January 2021

The water jar represents women as both ‘water bearers’ and chief pottery makers of the southeast. The Chickasaw people were a matrilineal society in which a woman served in many roles. As with “oka” (water), her activities were centered on sustaning life in her family and  community. Clay pots were made into containers called water jars or bottles used for carrying water. 

 The “Loksi” (turtle) design featured on the front of the water jar, like so many other animals in our natural world, represented a certain kind of wisdom and strength. 

This second edition bronze was exhibited in Visual Voices: Contemporary Chickasaw Art that showcased across the states including IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) in Santa Fe; Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, MS, Museum of the Southeast American Indian in Pembroke, NC, and the Briscoe Western Art Museum inSan Antonio, TX.

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