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Youngblood, Nathan & Mela – Plainware Long Neck Jar (1980s)
5.5"w x 4.5"h
$ 1,200.00
This is one of the few double signature pieces by Nathan Youngblood and his mother, Mela. The jar is from the 1980s. It was coil-built by Nathan and polished by Mela. The jar has a lone round shoulder and an elongated neck. The jar is very highly polished and perfectly fired to a glassy black. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nathan Youngblood, Mela Youngblood”. Definitely a classic!
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Description
This is one of the few double signature pieces by Nathan Youngblood and his mother, Mela. The jar is from the 1980s. It was coil-built by Nathan and polished by Mela. The jar has a lone round shoulder and an elongated neck. The jar is very highly polished and perfectly fired to a glassy black. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nathan Youngblood, Mela Youngblood”. Definitely a classic!
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Mela Youngblood began making pottery in the late 1960s and quickly achieved a distinctive style for her work. As an artist, Mela took the process of making her pottery very seriously. She decided that each piece she made had to be perfect, a trait which she passed on to her children, Nathan Youngblood and Nancy Youngblood. Mela was a daughter of Margaret Tafoya and the mother of Nathan Youngblood and Nancy Youngblood. Of all of Margaret's daughters, she was the first to create a storage jar that survived the firing process. Mela made pottery for such a short time, so it is always exciting to see her distinctive pieces of influential pottery!
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Youngblood, Mela (1931-1990)
Mela Youngblood began making pottery in the late 1960s and quickly achieved a distinctive style for her work. As an artist, Mela took the process of making her pottery very seriously. She decided that each piece she made had to be perfect, a trait which she passed on to her children, Nathan Youngblood and Nancy Youngblood. Mela was a daughter of Margaret Tafoya and the mother of Nathan Youngblood and Nancy Youngblood. Of all of Margaret's daughters, she was the first to create a storage jar that survived the firing process. Mela made pottery for such a short time, so it is always exciting to see her distinctive pieces of influential pottery! Youngblood, Nathan (b. 1954)
Nathan Youngblood
Nathan Youngblood is the grandson of noted potter Margaret Tafoya and the son of Mela Youngblood; Nathan has a traditional legacy of highly polished, deep, carved pottery. In 1976, he moved in with his grandparents and began an intense apprenticeship making pottery under their guidance. Attention to the small details was also imparted to him by his mother and grandmother. His work's precision is particularly evident in his forms, which have near geometric perfection in shape and symmetry. Nathan says, "I realize I don't make pots; I'm just involved in the process. The clay does what it wants and goes where it wants to go. I stick my hands in the clay, and where it goes, I follow."
Nathan Youngblood's clay art has evolved dramatically throughout his career. His early work focused on classic Santa Clara shapes and designs. In the early 1990s, Nathan re-examined his experiences with art worldwide and how it could be incorporated as part of his designs. His love of Asian ceramics influenced how he designed his pottery and utilized matte and polished surfaces to emphasize form. As a result, the designs seemed more complicated, less linear, and more ethereal in concept. As a result, he "opened the door for other potters to use clay as a vehicle for their personal and cultural experiences."
Over the years, Nathan has won over 140 awards for his pottery. He is one of only a handful of Santa Clara potters who use natural clay slips to create color contrasts of red and tan in his pottery. This combination of polished red and tan sections with matte or micaceous surfaces has become the new Santa Clara "polychrome." Throughout his career, he has continually built on the lessons learned from his mother and grandmother. This legacy has created a solid foundation for the evolution of his pottery, and "he has set the bar high for any potter to balance creativity, innovation, and technical expertise.