Marvelita Phillips Larger Black Jet w/ Turquoise Rim Zuni Fetish Bowl/ Pot / Pueblo Pottery
Artist: Zuni Fetish carver and potter Marvelita Phillips
Medium: Pottery covered with jet chips and turquoise chips at rim with opening in bowl for bears to exit and enter/Four approximately 1 5/8" L fetish bears attached with feathers/ 1 serpentine/ 1 marble/ 1 alabaster/ 1 Purple Spiny oyster/ Cornmeal and one Fluorite bear inside of bowl
Size: 3 1/2" H x 5 1/2" Across w/ bears
The Story of the Zuni Fetish Pot
Three hunters went to the mountains to obtain food but fell sick on their way. After several days of futile hunting they got together, sat on the ground and discussed their misfortune.
They began to remember what the elders had taught them. Take a ceremonial pot with corn and sacred fetishes inside and offer earnest prayers. This ritual had been handed down for generations.
Finally, on the fourth day they found and killed a fox. Taking the corn from the inside of the bowl they made a stew. Not only were they revived but their sickness was cured.
The inside of the fetish pot becomes the home of sacred fetishes. Sometimes medicines are stored there but always there is a corn meal offering to sustain the fetishes. Guards inhabit the outside with a "peak hole" in most pots.
The representation of the pot is to appease the spirit of the fetish and keep it happy. This harmony may be transferred to the owner bringing protection and good fortune from the four directions of mother earth.
Story passed down by a Native American elder