Deciphered: The Yearly Symbols of Joseph Lonewolf

Joseph Lonewolf (1932-2014) is one of the great names in Santa Clara pottery.  He began making pottery in 1970 and by 1971 he won his first blue ribbon at the Gallup Inter-tribal ceremonials.  His pieces were coil built, stone polished, sgraffito etched with designs, and traditionally fired.  He quickly became famous for his “pottery jewels”.

Luckily, throughout his career, he dated his pottery. Each piece was signed on the bottom with his name, the Lonewolf “logo”, the date, and a number.  The numbering system indicated the year and number of pieces made that year.  Beginning in 1979, he started to change from dating his work to using a “yearly symbol”.  Each piece made that year would have that same symbol etched into the clay.   He would describe each character and symbol in the typewritten card he would make for each piece of pottery.  Today, while many of the cards are lost, but they remain an excellent source of information about his art and the meaning of the symbols.

Signature on bottom of a bowl from 1972	Signature on bottom of a bowl from 1976

 

Example of the front and back of one of the “artist” cards Joseph typed for each piece of pottery providing a description, size, and year.

The Yearly Symbols

This article is the first to provide the name and image of each year’s symbol.  The information below should be helpful to date Joseph’s pottery between 1979 and 2001.  The idea for a “yearly symbol” seemed to get off to a slow start.  In 1978, all the pieces were dated.  In 1979, the pieces combined a date and the yearly symbol.  In 1980, all the pieces were dated and there is no evidence of a yearly symbol.  Then in 1981 the pieces again began to have a ‘yearly symbol’, beginning with the feather and tears.  Starting in 1982, each year would have a different symbol.  In the list below, there are a few images and years missing, and I am continuing to look for those to add to this list to make it more definitive.  My resources have primarily been Joseph’s artist’s cards.

After 2001, I haven’t been able to find any of the yearly symbols used on his pottery.  Joseph began to make fewer pieces after 2001.  I’m not sure if he continued to use the combination of daisy/sunflower design or another symbol that isn’t here.  Any additional information on these later pieces would be welcomed to make this article more accurate.

Charles S. King

2021

 

Year	Design Name	Design
1979	Dragonfly
1980	symbol unknown (may not be one as most of these pieces are dated)
1981	Feather with Tears
1982	Star
1983	Infinity Symbol
1984	Rainbow
1985	Star
1986	Heart
1987	Propeller of Life
1988	Bear Paw
1989	Ankh
1990	Heart with Cross	No image available
1991	World Peace
1992	Life Without Feeling
1993	Wolf Print
1994	unknown name of symbol
1995	Fish
1996	Cross Designed Heart
1997	Interlocking Ring
1998	Thunderbird
1999	Sunflower (Honoring Camilio Sunflower Tafoya)
2000	Daisy (Honoring Agapita Tafoya)
2001	Sunflower and Daisy