Traditional styles include tall, slender vases, wide, shallow bowls and small to medium round pots. Stylized birds, kiva steps, and rain symbols are among the most popular design motifs. Popular Zuni designs include the rain bird, plant and animal forms, crosshatching, and the deer with red heartline. Owl effigies are common, as is the practice of adding clay relief figures such as the water serpent and duck to the outer surfaces of the vessel. The borrowing, trading and adopting of artistic techniques, styles and designs is nothing new to the tribes of North America.
Today there are more innovations in pottery than ever before.
This strong and steady influx of new styles and designs is pushing pottery into previously unexplored territories. But the recent movement is unprecedented. Dozens of artists today are using the designs and techniques of other tribes. Laguna and Acoma potters are incorporating many of these motifs in their work as well, sometimes slipping their vessels with amber or white pigments much like those of Hopi artist. The Tewa pueblos are producing many clay works containing outside tribal influences.