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These are all the New Additions which have been added for the last 30 days.
NEW PIECES OF NATIVE AMERICAN POTTERY AND ART ARE ADDED EACH DAY, SO CHECK BACK.
This is a very deeply carved wide bowl by Jason Ebelacker. Jason is a son of noted potter Richard Ebelacker and grandson of Virginia Ebelacker. This bowl is coil built and very flat across the top. The bowl is carved with two bear paw medallions. Separating them are cloud and lightning designs. The bear paw design is classic in Santa Clara pottery as it represents a story of a bear leading the Pueblo people to water during a drought. The bowl is very deeply carved! Note as well the matte area which creates a strong visual contrast to the highly polished surface. The base of the bowl is also stone polished. It is fired a deep black coloration. The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay.
$ 2,000.00
Teresita Naranjo was a daughter of Christina Naranjo and know for her deeply carved pottery. This jar is fully carved with a feather pattern around the neck and water serpent around the body of the piece. It is very much like some of her larger pieces with complex designs. Note how deeply it is carved and the intricate flow of design on the body of the avanyu. It is traditionally fired black and signed on the bottom in the clay, “Teresita Naranjo”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 650.00
LuAnn Tafoya is known for her highly polished traditional Santa Clara pottery. This is a stunning large black storage jar. A storage jar is a particular shape in Santa Clara Pueblo pottery which usually has a round shape and a short neck. This piece is a classic shape with a very round form and just a slight indention before the neck. There are four bear paws on the piece. They are impressed into the clay and then the entire piece is fully polished. Did you know that the whole piece has to be polished at one time? Otherwise, the clay slip will dry and it won’t be as shiny in appearance. LuAnn said of her water jars:
“Sometimes the shape depends on how the clay is drying. Sometimes you have to bring it in right away. It is OK you can make it wider and then come in. I think for the first storage jar I used the puki given to my mom from my grandmother. It was narrow at the bottom. They made the base so the puki was just thin. We had to wire it to keep it attached. Later I made a new one with that form so I could have it for the future. It’s a nice shape going up from the bottom.” LuAnn Tafoya, Spoken Through Clay
The storage jar is highly polished and fired a striking glassy black coloration. LuAnn is one of the few potters making piece of such quality and historic continuity. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “LuAnn Tafoya”. It is an exceptional example of her skill, creativity, and commitment to traditional Santa Clara pottery.
$ 7,800.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1982 and it is highly polished and fired red. The design has six different Mimbres insects as the design. There are a bee, butterfly, beetle, mosquito and two others. Each is etched into the clay and then their bodies consist of additional designs. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. There are three different green clays, blue and white. Near the base is the yearly symbol for 1982, which is a “+”. The piece is very highly polished and intricately designed. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Joseph Lonewolf said of his use of Mimbres imagery in his pottery:
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,800.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1987 and it is highly polished and fired black. The design has two Mimbres inspired figures who are hunting a rabbit. One is holding a “rabbit stick” and the other has just thrown his. The opposite side has a Mimbres rabbit etched into the clay. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. Near the base is an incised butterfly. The 1987 symbol, the Propeller of Life, is also etched into the design. The piece is very highly polished and intricately designed. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Joseph Lonewolf said of his use of Mimbres imagery in his pottery:
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,400.00
Louise E. Suina (1939-1992) was known for her intricately painted storytellers. This figure has eight children who are formed and painted with activities from playing ball to playing a drum. Note as well the very intricately painted design for the apron she is wearing. The figure is signed on the bottom, “Louise E. Suina”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 450.00
This larger jar by Eric Lewis is a new design for his pottery. It is a large bee graphic on one side and rain designs on the remainder of the jar. The piece has high shoulders and a short neck. The bee works well in it’s stylized form on this jar. Eric uses his designs to follow the shape of the jar and accentuate its form. Eric has taken classic Acoma linear designs and made them both bolder and more graphic. The result is a striking jar with tightly painted imagery. Eric remains one of the young Pueblo potters to watch!
$ 500.00
Al Qoyawayma is known for innovative pottery. This piece is from 1986 and is a classic wide shoulder water jar. The jar is stone polished in a vertical manner, which historically is often called an “onion skin” polish. The jar has four flute players as the design and they are each created in repousse, which is to say that they are pushed out from the inside (not applique). Al has often used the Flute Player, or Kokopelli, as a design on his pottery. It is an ancient figure often found on rock art throughout the southwest and “represents wisdom, goodness, and fertility.” The jar is signed on the bottom. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 6,500.00
This is wide jar by Debbie Clashin is painted with a stylized bird design. She is a cousin of noted potter Mark Tahbo and a descendant of Grace Chapella. Debbie has quickly become well known for her large-sized traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery. The jar has a sloping shoulder and there are two sections with swirling birds. Surrounding the birds are dragonflies and rain patterns. The jar is painted with bee-weed and natural clay slips. It was traditionally fired with blushes across the surface of the jar. It is signed on the bottom with her name and a pipe for his “Tobacco Clan”.
$ 700.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece is entitled, “Buffalo Dancer”. It was printed at El Cerro Graphics in New Mexico in 1984. The image on the front is a Pueblo Buffalo Dancer. It is framed and was made in 1984 and it is 23/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 600.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece is entitled, “Spirit of Winter”. It was printed at El Cerro Graphics in New Mexico in 1984. The image on the front is a Pueblo Deer Dancer. It is framed and on the back is the original documentation signed by Joseph Lonewolf for the edition. It was made in 1984 and it is 23/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 600.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1979. It has an incised antelope as the design on the top of the piece. On the sides of the piece are rain and lightning designs and even a very small dragonfly! It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The seedpot is signed on the bottom in the clay.
$ 1,100.00
This is a very intricate miniature seedpot by Ray Tafoya. The design has a Mimbres Big Horn Sheep as the main design. It is surrounded by additional prayer feather, lightning and mountain designs. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. The seedpot is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay with his hallmark.
$ 300.00
Susie Crank is a daughter of Rose Williams and a sister of Alice Cling. Each piece is coil built, stone polished and amazingly, she says he may burnish a piece over and over as many as 15 times to get a high shine! This water jar has a round body and an elongated neck. The jar is then traditionally fired to create the fire-clouds on the surface. The colorations on this jar range from black to a deep red. The jar was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof. Today, the pine pitch seals the vessel and gives it the shine. This jar has a stunning shine and a great feel to the surface! It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Susie Crank”.
$ 350.00
This is an intricately painted miniature jar by Dolores Curran. Before she began making her carved pieces, she was well known for her delicately painted buff-on-red pottery. This piece is unusual as it is fired black. It is fully polished and the jar has a square neck. The neck has a cloud and rain design and the shoulder has a water serpent (avanyu) encircling the piece. Much like her buff-on-red pieces, they design has to be painted over several times. Note the precision of the lines! The jar is signed on the bottom. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 125.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptional painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This large seedpot is painted on the top with an intricate design. There is a katsina figure in the center and it is surrounded with additional Acoma designs. All the fine-line patterns are delicately painted on this piece. All the various colors are from natural clay slips. The piece is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Natseway”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is a striking balance of traditional and historic imagery on a very modern form.
$ 350.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptional painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This wonderful seedpot has flat sides and an unusual pyramid form. The sides are each painted with different plant designs near the base. Above the plants is a band of leaf patterns and then two larger stylized birds. Note the very delicate lines painted for the plants and birds! All the various colors are from natural clay slips. The piece is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Natseway”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is a striking balance of traditional and historic imagery on a very modern form.
$ 450.00
Jason Garcia is known for his tiles, he also creates a few boxes and jars each year. This box is one that has four Corn Maidens painted, with one on each side. They are painted in the old “two-dimensional” style of Santa Clara art and each of the Corn Maidens represents a different direction (North, South, East, West) based on the color (Blue, Red, White, Yellow). In one hand she is holding corn and the other a basket of cornmeal. On the ground are stylized corn plants and there is a corn design on each of the dresses. The detail in this box is fantastic, with even small detailed created with the clay. The box is made of native clay and he uses native clay slips for the colors. It is signed on the bottom in the clay “Okuu Pin” which is Jason’s name in Tewa (which means Turtle Mountain). The piece is certainly inspired by the work of San Ildefonso painter Gilbert Atencio and his Blue Corn Maiden (see last photo).
$ 900.00
Tonita Roybal remains one of the great innovative names in San Ildefonso pottery. This jar reflects the exceptional nature of her pottery designs, shapes, and firing. The jar has a round shoulder and then and a slight indention before extending up to the neck. The jar itself is very highly polished and beautifully painted. The design is interesting with a reverse feather pattern which extends up from the base. What is interesting is the design leaves more open space and draws the eye to the shoulder. The jar is fired to a gunmetal appearance with areas which even have a gold-tone coloration. This “goldtone” is a rarity in her work and one which was achieved in the firing. The jar has a very metallic appearance with just the touch of yellow or gold in the light. The jar is from the 1920’s and it has its original sticker on the bottom. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed, “Tonita” in the clay on the bottom. As a provenance, the jar was de-acquisitioned from the American Indian Culture Research Center in Marvin, South Dakota. It still has the tag for its catalog number of 00251.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,600.00
This is a fascinating jar by Dominguita Pino Martinez. She was the mother of Cresencia Martinez and Tonita Roybal and the grandmother of Alfonso Roybal (Awa Tsireh), Tomasita Montoya Sanchez, JD Robyal and Margaret Lou Gutierrez. She was well known by the early 1900’s for her black-on-red pottery. This jar is a classic example of her work and although it was not signed (she did not sign any of her work), it has a great provenance. The piece was acquired from Dick Howard, who had shown the jar to Maria Martinez in 1965. Maria identified it as the work of Dominguita Pino from around 1915. Dick was one of the great early resources for getting pottery identified by Maria. Dick had written this out on the receipt for the piece when it was acquired in 1999 (see the last photo). However, it is not just the identification from Dick Howard, but the jar itself is one of her classic styles. The shape with the straight style of neck and the high shoulder are certainly associated with her work. The painting style of the open designs is also in her manner. Some of her later pieces are more detailed and probably painted by Tonita. The jar was slipped red and then painted with the black to create the coloration. It is in very good condition with no cracks, restoration or repair. There is a slight lean to one side and a small chip on the inside rim.
In “Spoken Though Clay” Dick Howard had an interesting quote (he had originally said to Richard Spivey) when talking about identifying historic San Ildefonso pottery.
“Because Maria—and I’ve found this to be true of other potters—considers the potter to be the one who does the potting. The painting is aside from that. Only rarely did she even comment on the painting. Once in a while she’d say, ‘Oh, that’s a nice design.’ But almost always she was really examining the potting, and she’d feel the pot or feel the inside. So unless I asked, as a follow-up, if the potter had also decorated it, she usually didn’t tell me one way or another, which I thought was interesting. Because to my eye what I often see first when I look at the decorated pot is the design, but that wasn’t what she saw. She always just sort of looked through the design.” —Richard Howard, 2000
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 5,800.00
Russell Sanchez continues to be one of the true innovators in Pueblo pottery. Each piece is perfectly coil built, stone polished and etched. This bowl is one of his first incorporating a polished white clay slip! The white is the same white clay used on historic San Ildefonso polychrome pottery when it was stone polished. This piece has a culturally inspired design with two different old style Sun Faces. Each sun is different and they are meant to represent the Summer people and the Winter people at the Pueblo. Each sun is etched into the white clay and they are highlighted with red and black clay. The rim has a rain design while the base has mountains with the sun rising. There is a striking degree of complexity in the etched imagery on this piece! As well, it is a true polychrome with polished deep red, white, black, light red and matte tan, red and black clay colorations. There are three inset bands of hematite hei-shi beads which encircle the bowl. As Russell continues to innovate from historic designs, he says, “Tradition means moving forward and adding to it. You keep moving forward. If we stayed stagnant we would no longer exist.” The bottom of the bowl is indented, which reflects the historic San Ildefonso pottery with the indented base which would be worn on the head. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay. The second to the last photo is of the bowl before it was fired. The last photo is of a similar Sun design from a San Ildefonso plate from the 1920s. It is exciting to see how this imagery is not new but Russell’s reinterpretation of it both modernizes and revives.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 6,800.00
Margaret Lou Gutierrez was the only daughter of noted potters Tonita & Juan Roybal. She began making pottery in the 1970’s and this is one of her pieces from the 1990’s. It is a mini bowl which is fully polished and painted with a cloud and rain design. The bowl is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret Lou Gutierrez”.
$ 75.00
Margaret Lou Gutierrez was the only daughter of noted potters Tonita & Juan Roybal. She began making pottery in the 1970’s and this is one of her pieces from the 1990’s. The jar has a long neck and a high shoulder. It is painted with her sharp, elongated feathers and it is very highly polished. The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret Lou Gutierrez”.
$ 200.00
Dennis Daubs is known for his intricately incised pottery. Each piece is coil built, stone polished and the imagery is etched into the surface of the clay. This jar has a water serpent in one section of the design. The remainder of the jar has etched feathers, rain and cloud patterns. The designs are very intricately etched and note the precision of the lines. The piece is signed, “Dennis Daubs”.
$ 200.00
This jar by Alice Cling has a deep coloration from the firing. Alice Cling is one of the great names in the revival of Navajo pottery in the 1980s. This jar is coil built, stone polished around the neck and striated corn husk designs down the size. This jar is a very traditional Navajo shape with a round body and a short neck. The design is very subtle but is the coloration of the firing which is so dynamic! The colors on this jar swirl and range from black to a deep red. The jar was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when the pitch was used to make the pottery utilitarian. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Alice Cling”. Alice has won numerous awards for her pottery and been featured in books such as “Legacy of Generations.”
$ 175.00
This is a charming jar by Lois Gutierrez. She is one of the few potters who continues to create polychrome pottery at Santa Clara. Polychrome, or more than three different colors of clay slips, are all painted onto the surface of the vessel before it is fired. This jar has a kive step design on one side, giving it a taller appearance. On the top there are also step designs representing the four directions. On the jar itself, it is fully designed with a Koshari Clown who is fishing. He is sitting by the water with a fishing pole and melons and a soda. The fishing pole has the line into the water and as the jar is turned you can see the fish below the water surface and follow the line. It is wrapped around his foot! All the colors are derived from natural clay slips. This jar has over five different natural clay colors utilized. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Lois”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks restoration or repair. This is certainly a classic piece of Lois’s pottery which combines a cultural legacy in design with one in clay.
ois Gutierrez is one of the few potters who continues to create polychrome pottery at Santa Clara. Polychrome, or more than three different colors of clay slips, are all painted onto the surface of the vessel before it is fired. This water jar has a wonderful shape with very round body and elongated neck. The design around the neck is a feather pattern. Note the use of the three different colors of clay for the tip of the feather in contrast to the white feathers. The body of the jar has two intertwined water serpents. Note the use of classic rain and seed patterns in the bodies of each avanyu. Above them is a rain cloud design. What makes them the “old style” avanyu? Check out the shape of the horn and the shape of the tongue. They each have the three prong style, and this is similar to the very early historic style of avany painted on the pottery! The base of the jar is indented, which is reminiscent of the historic Santa Clara water jars which were carried on the head. This jar has over five different natural clay colors utilized. This is certainly a classic piece of Lois’s pottery which combines a cultural legacy in design with one in clay.
$ 500.00
This is an early jar by Jody Naranjo is from 1990. It is highly polished to the shoulder and matte below. The top part is etched with eight flute players as the design. The background matte area is also designed with linear patterns. The jar is outdoor fired to create the coloration in the clay. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 450.00
Debra Duwyenie is well known for her wonderful miniatures and incised designs. Each piece is stone polished and then it is etched before it is fired! This seedpot has eight turtles as the design. Each of the turtles has a different design on the back. Note the one with the wavy lines, that one is meant to represent Preston Duwyenie, her husband, who is known for his “shifting sand” pottery. There are additional dragonflies and a water serpent at the base of the design. Note that the lighter red matte areas are where Debra has only etched away the polished surface but not down as far as the tan color of the clay. Debra also pays close attention to the little details like the tan background area and how evenly she etches the vertical lines. The seedpot is traditionally fired. It is signed on the bottom in the clay with Preston’s hallmark and “Debra”.
$ 450.00
Dominique Toya is known for her intricately carved pottery with sharp ridged melon swirls. This is an earlier piece of her pottery which is carved with six swirling melon ribs. The entire piece is fully stone polished to a high shine. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Damian Toya”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 400.00
This is a very traditionally inspired jar by Ida Sahmie. It is “The Four Sacred Plants”, which is a design often seen in sandpaintings. Here, Ida has painted it on a stone polished jar using natural clay slips and bee-weed (a plant) for the black. The four sacred plants are corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. There are both painted and matte areas along with incised designs. The tile was traditionally fired and it is signed on the back, “Ida Sahmie”. She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. The story of the Four Sacred Plants and the Dine people is as follows:
“Four Sacred Plants are assigned to the cardinal points, and amongst the Navajos Maize is the plant of the North, Beans of the east. This means that both are male and as both are grown for edible seeds, recognition of the physiological function of the male was probably involved in the selection. This is entirely possible since the convention could have been established only very late, after settlement in America. Squash, for the Navajos, is the plant of the South, which is fitting since its fruit is called “eight-sided” and the eight-sided earth (an alternative to the square earth, taking account of the diagonal directions) is female. Also the stalk is angled in sections, a feature deliberately exaggerated when the plant is depicted in sand paintings, and crooked things are female. Tobacco, which the Navajos put on the west, is female because it is used to make smoke which is blown out with the breath, and that is female. Below the Plants are white roots, the significance being that these plants still have their roots in the lower world.”
$ 325.00
Dolores Curran creates intricately incised and painted pottery. She was inspired to create these red polychrome incised and painted by her husband, Alvin Curran. He was known for his incised San Juan style pottery in the 1990’s. This piece is one of her lidded boxes. The box is oval and the sides are fully painted with geometric designs. There are feather, cloud and sun designs. Did you know that when she paints the designs, she goes over each area at least four times so that the white clay will be dark enough to show against the polished red surface! The lid has a water serpent incised into the clay in a San Juan style. The area is matte and there are red, white and brown clay slips. It is surrounded by a painted cloud design. Note on the lid there are red dots on one side and white dots on the other, to let you know which way to place the lid! The piece is wonderfully intricate in painting and complex in form. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.
$ 1,600.00
This jar by Alice Cling is a very classic Navajo shape with the high shoulder and the elongated neck. The jar has a raised “braid” encircling the piece near the neck. What is interesting about the raised design is not simply that it is an incised linear rain design. The pattern around the jar has a great texture and there is one small “gap” in the design, which is the “spirit line”. The jar is traditionally fired and it was fired very hot as it is a brownish coloration. The fire clouds still circle around on the surface of the jar. It was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when pine pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Alice Cling”. Alice has won numerous awards for her pottery and been featured in books such as “Legacy of Generations.” She remains one of the great names in the revival of Navajo pottery in the 1980’s
$ 110.00
This is a wide jar by Preston Duwyenie. The shape is one which Preston calls a “shoulder jar” as it is inspired by the historic Sikyaki pottery with the wide shoulders. Preston’s modernist version has a wide shoulder and a small neck. The piece is made from micaceous clay and slipped with a micaceous clay slip. It is fired black and the mica gives the piece a somewhat metallic appearance. There is a single inset piece of silver on the top shoulder of the jar. The silver has the appearance of “shifting sands”, much in a similar style to the pottery where he has carved a shifting sand pattern. It is cast by Preston against cuttlefish bone, to create the distinctive texture. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay with Preston’s hallmark, which means “carried in beauty”. There is certainly something both modern and ancient about this striking piece! Preston is from Third Mesa at Hopi and taught ceramics for years at Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) in Santa Fe. He is married to pottery Debra Duwyenie and now resides in Santa Clara Pueblo. Preston has won numerous awards for pottery, including “Best of Show” at the Heard Indian Market.
$ 900.00
This is a very traditionally inspired jar by Dextra Quotskuyva. She is certainly one of the great innovators among Hopi-Tewa potters. Her work began with more classic imagery and then has evolved over the years to more unique and stylized designs. This piece is from the mid-1980’s. It is inspired by the work of Nampeyo of Hano and the early style of painted red on the pottery. In the early 1930’s Mary Colton at the Museum of Northern Arizona introduced a new clay slip to Hopi. Previously the red had a more ‘painterly” appearance (see last photo of a jar by Nampeyo of Hano), which allowed the clay to show through. The new red is the one we see used today which more completely covers the painted area. This jar looks back at the earlier style of Nampeyo and the red which has a more “painterly” appearance. This jar is painted with red around the neck and the remainder has a classic eagle tail design. However, note the very thin lines for the checkerboard pattern on the bird tail. The style of the painting is certainly Dextra’s but there is a wonderful homage to the work of her great-grandmother as well! The bowl is traditionally fired so that there are blushes and color variations around the surface. It is signed on the bottom with bee-weed, “Dextra” with an ear of corn representing the Corn Clan. The jar is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The piece comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife not noted Hopi jeweler Charles Loloma and it is a piece the acquired directly from Dextra. Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.
$ 6,500.00
Paulita Pacheco (b. 1943) is a sister of noted potter Robert Tenorio. She is married to Gilbert Pacheco and her daughter, Rose Pacheco continues to make traditional style Kewa pottery. Paulita learned to make pottery from her mother Juanita C. Tenorio and grandmother Andrea Ortiz. This jar is coil built, painted with bee-weed (black) and red clay slips and traditionally fired. The jar has a classic style Kewa bird as the design along with flowers which encircle the jar. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Paulita Pacheco”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 400.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptionally painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This piece is from 1981 and it is one of her classic canteen shapes. On the front are a Mimbres style bird and two lizards. They are very detailed in design. The mouth of the canteen and the handles are slipped with a red clay. On the back is a red flower with black petals. It is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Shields Natseway”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 500.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece has quail and butterflies as the design. It is very intricately designed with many of the same motifs he used in his pottery. It is dated 1981 and signed and numbered 18/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 200.00
This is an original etching by Rosemary Lonewolf. The figure is a Corn Spirit holding an ear of corn and surrounded by a corn stalk and pollen. It is 4/60 and titled, “Corn Spirit’s Fertile Form”. It is signed, “Rosemary Apple Blossom Lonewolf”. It is in excellent condition.
$ 125.00
This is an original etching by Camilio Tafoya. It uses similar designs to those in his pottery. Here it depicts a charming combination of frogs and mice playing in the sun. There are additional colors added to the etching. This piece is 23/60 and it was printed by El Cerro Graphics, who printed all of Camilio and Jospeh’s etchings. It is dated 1981 and signed, “Camilio Sunflower Tafoya”. It is in excellent condition.
$ 150.00
This seedpot by Art Cody Haungooah is from 1981. It is fully polished and has etched designs. There is a sunface in one medallion. The other medallion ahs a lizard and frog. This medallion is “two-toned” to make it black-and sienna. The contrast of the highly polished surfaces and the color from the sienna is striking. Art was Kiowa and married to Martha Suazo from Santa Clara and that is where he began to make pottery. The bowl is signed, “Haungooah” and a flute player. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Art Cody Haungooh: A “Reflected Light” in Pueblo Pottery
$ 250.00
While Nancy Youngblood is known for her swirl melon bowls and carved pottery, she started out her career making miniatures. This miniature is from 1975 which makes it a very early piece of her pottery! It is a miniature kiva bowl and it is fully polished on the inside and the outside. The edges of the kiva steps are matte in contrast to the highly polished surface. Note as well the little holes in the sides of the kiva steps. On larger pieces the holes would be placed in the kiva bowls so that eagle feathers could be attached. It is amazing that she was able to replicate this concept in miniature! The bowl is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Yellow Aspen ’75”.
$ 900.00
This is an intricately painted miniature seedpot by Dolores Curran. Before she began making her carved pieces, she was well known for her delicately painted buff-on-red pottery. The bowl is highly polished red and painted with a buff clay for the design. Amazingly, she would paint each piece up to five times to get the color of the matte painted areas deep and consistent enough! This piece has a feather pattern which encircles the piece. Below are cloud and rain designs. Around the top is a water serpent. Note the precision of the lines! So why doesn’t Dolores make this style anymore? She ran out of the cream-colored clay slip for the painting, and so only uses it as an accent on her new work! As well, this is a larger sized piece of her painted pottery, as she mostly made miniatures due to the time-consuming nature of the painting. The bowl is signed on the bottom. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 150.00
Veronica Naranjo is a daughter of Barbarita Naranjo and a granddaughter of Pasqualita Tafoya. This is one of her few plates but carved in her very deep style. The design is an avanyu which encircles the plate. It is stone polished and traditionally fired. The carving is deep for the size of the piece. It is signed on the back in the clay, “Veronica”
$ 120.00
This seedpot by Art Cody Haungooah is from 1977. It is fully polished and has a single etched medallion. The design is the “Mosquito Man”. It is a design which is found on the kiva murals at Pottery Mound, NM. The last photo is the Mosquito Man from the actual murals. On this piece, Art depicted the figure with a striking similarity to the actual mural figure. The remainder of the piece is highly polished. It is signed, “Haungooah” and a flute player. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Art Cody Haungooh: A “Reflected Light” in Pueblo Pottery
$ 200.00
SaraFina Tafoya was the matriarch of a family of renowned potters, including her children Margaret Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, and Christina Naranjo. While she is known for her large vessels, in the 1930’s she created a series of smaller painted and plainware vessels which were signed. They are unusual and scarce pieces, yet a fascinating part of the history of Santa Clara pottery. This is an exceptional polychrome plate. The design in the center is a boar and it is surrounded by an avanu (water serpent). They are both painted with a red clay slip and accented with white and gray. The design of the boar is unusual in Santa Clara designs from this period. The plate is signed on the back in the clay, “Serafina Santa Clara Pueblo”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Signed, “Serafina”: The Signed Pottery of SaraFina Tafoya
$ 4,000.00
SaraFina Tafoya was the matriarch of a family of renowned potters, including her children Margaret Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, and Christina Naranjo. While she is known for her large vessels, in the 1930’s she created a series of smaller painted and plainware vessels which were signed. They are unusual and scarce pieces, yet a fascinating part of the history of Santa Clara pottery. This bowl is a classic piece of painted pottery and has a fascinating provenance. The bowl was originally acquired in 1933 by the Denver Art Museum. It was included in the book “Margaret Tafoya” by Mary Ellen and Lawrence Blair on p. 53 (fig. 2-19). The bowl was later deaccessioned by the DAM and ended up in a private collection. The bowl is fully polished and painted red-on-red with a lightning design. The designs are highlighted with a white clay slip. It is a complex and varied design which relies as much on the matte painted areas as the negative polished space. The bowl is signed in the clay on the bottom, “Sarafina Tafoya”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Interestingly, it still has the original catalog number for the museum as well as the museum card. Definitely a great piece of history!
Signed, “Serafina”: The Signed Pottery of SaraFina Tafoya
$ 1,800.00
This is a creatively designed plate by Maximiliana “Anna” Martinez, who was a sister of Maria Martinez. It is fully polished on the front and matte on the back. The plate has a checkerboard pattern in the center and a triangular design emanating out to the rim. The charming part of the plate is the very thinly painted water serpent which encircles the central checkerboard medallion. The plate is fired a deep black in coloration. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Anna”. Why is the work of Anna Martinez important? Interestingly, Maria would often say she was the best painter in the family. She was married to Cresencio Martinez, who was known for his paintings and was also a brother to Tonita Roybal. One can begin to see how her talent was easily fostered by those around her making a plate such as this one a creative classic!
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,400.00
This is a smaller bowl by Tom Tapia. It is highly polished and designed with a series of designs. There is a Tewa Dancer with a drum along with a sun and Pueblo scene. There is another katsina figure and finally a corn plant. The bowl was fired black and then the reddish clay coloration is added after the firing. It is this color combination for which Tom achieved recognition. The bowl is signed, “Tom Tapia”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 200.00
Tomasita Montoya is one of the early revivalists in San Juan pottery. She was one of the original seven San Juan potters who revived the art form in the 1930’s. The Pueblo was renown for their pottery but by about 1890 there were no potters left. In 1930 Regina Cata organized a pottery study group at San Juan Pueblo with the intent of revitalizing pottery production. The group studied ancient potsherds of wares made at San Juan in earlier times and selected Potsuwi‘i Incised Ware (1450-1500) as a basis for a contemporary pottery type. This is a large open bowl with kiva steps or cloud designs. The rim of the bowl has a step pattern which has incised mountain designs. The center of the bowl is deeply carved and then slipped with additional clays for the coloration. The fascinating part about this piece is that it combines both the Potsuw’i’i incised designs on the terraced edges and the San Juan carved designs. The back is fully polished. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tomasita Montoya”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tomasita Montoya”.
$ 875.00
This is a classic open bowl by Dextra Quotskuyva. She is certainly one of the great innovators among Hopi-Tewa potters. Her work began with more classic imagery and then has evolved over the years to more unique and stylized designs. This piece is from about 1985 and it is featured in the book, “Painted Perfection” on p. 25. The design is classic Nampeyo pattern of the Blackbird Migration. The design is very intricately painted and swirls around the inside of the bowl. The bowl itself has a carved rim, which is almost mesa-like in shape. From certain angles, it is as if the one is looking over the edge of the mesa and seeing the birds flying in the sky! The bowl was traditionally fired to create the various fire clouds on the surface. It is signed on the bottom with bee-weed, “Dextra” with an ear of corn representing the Corn Clan. The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The bowl comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of noted Hopi silversmith Charles Loloma. It’s great to have a piece with such exceptional provenance! Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.
$ 7,000.00
This is an exceptional original clay piece by Roxanne Swentzell. It is entitled “Indian On the Edge”. The figure is one of the few males she has made during her career. There is a look of uncertainty in the eyes of the eyes of the figure as he is looking over the edge. The piece sits almost flat but when placed on the edge it balances out. Roxanne had said of this piece, that, its quizzical look and inability to sit evenly on a flat surface is about the feeling of being stranded between two cultures and unable to be comfortable in either one. It is definitely a powerful piece of her work and a great statement on the lives of many native artists. The hair is sculpted with clay hair ties which extend to the back and the side. The parrot feathers are tied in bundles and added to the piece. The sculptural quality of the hands and feet is striking on this figure. This piece is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is from early 2000 and signed in the clay, “ROX”.
$ 11,000.00
This is an amazingly intricate miniature by Ida Sahmie. It is the Day Chant Dance with eight male Yei-bi-chi dancers encircling the jar. The background area is fully polished the natural color of the clay. In the background, there are the mesas, clouds, and even birds! Note how she has also painted the shadows of each dancer extending to the base of the bowl. Ida also incises into the clay for the faces and the bodies, leather and masks. She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
$ 275.00
This is an exceptional lidded jar by Ray Tafoya. The jar has a realistic buffalo etched around the neck. Below is a stylized Buffalo Dancer. On either side of the medallion are a male and female Buffalo Dancer. Around the neck are etched feathers and separating the two dancers are prayer feather desigsn. The lid of the piece has a buffalo on the top. There are coral and turquoise additions on the buffalo lid. Ray used an additional red clay color to accentuate the designs. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay along with his hallmark, “White Mountain”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Note how many of the geometric designs are similar to ones used today by his daughter, Jennifer Tafoya.
$ 700.00
This is a charming duck clay figure from Jamie Peynetsa. He is the son of noted potters Anderson and Avelia Peynetsa. Avelia, his mother, coil builds the clay vessel. Jamie paints the design. He has strong attention to the detail of the painting as well as his inspiration from classic Zuni pottery. This duck is slipped with white clay and then painted with designs. The wings are and eyes are intricately painted and the dots on the front of the head are raised. The duck has a turned head and a two feathers extending up from its head. It is signed by Jamie and his mother on the bottom.
$ 300.00
This is an exceptional miniature by Ida Sahmie. For the size, it has incredible detail, as one might expect from a great miniature in pottery! It is the Night Chant Dance with eight male Yei-bi-chi dancers encircling the jar. The background area is fully painted with bee-weed (a plant) to make it black. In the background, there are the mesas, moon, and stars. Ida also incises into the clay for the faces and the bodies, leather, and masks. The detail here is quite exceptional! She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
“Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or “maternal grandfather of the yei”, is another name of Talking God who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and Water Sprinkler, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.) He is invoked (along with eight other male yei) in the “Night Chant” or “Nightway” sometimes simply called “Yei bichei,” a nine-night ceremony in which masked dancers personify the gods.”
$ 275.00
This is a classic original clay piece by Roxanne Swentzell. It is entitled “The Seduction”. The figure is made from clay and she is in a reclining position. Her one hand is holding up her head while the other is extending outward with the finger extended. She is beckoning the viewer forward. There is a gentleness to the figure and the face. The continuous coloration of the figure accentuates the form. Note the detail in the hands and the feet as well. This piece is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is from early 2000s and signed in the clay, “ROX”.
$ 11,000.00
This water jar by Jason Ebelacker is a striking vessel, which finds its reference in a very historical form. The jar has a very wide shoulder which then curves downward before extending up to the neck. There is just a slight turn out of the rim. The jar is highly polished and fired a deep black. The various curves on the jar create beautiful angles for the reflection of light.. Jason is a son of noted potter Richard Ebelacker and grandson of Virginia Ebelacker.
$ 3,000.00
This is an amazing large open bowl by Jacob Koopee. Jake was known for his large pieces and his variations on traditional Hopi-Tewa designs. This large open bowl is coil built and it is painted on the outside and the inside. On the outside there is the classic migration pattern. Jake had an ability to paint the fine lines of the pattern thin and even. The inside of the bowl is also fully painted with hand prints and cradle dolls. Each of the cradle dolls is a different katsina, including a Qooqule, Grandmother, Runner and other figures. The small hand prints were meant to represent the children given the cradle dolls as gifts. The bowl is signed on the bottom with a flute player, which was one of Jake’s signatures. This immense bowl is a striking example of his skill as both potter and painter. It is traditionally fired and painted with bee weed (black) and natural clay slips. Jake won numerous awards during his career including “Best of Show” in 2005 at both Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Market. I was lucky to have been a pottery judge both years at both events, and it was exciting to see an artist create such dynamic work. Our consignor has asked us to lower the price, which makes this large bowl an exceptional value.
$ 9,200.00
This is a classic round jar by Maria Martinez and her husband, Julian. Maria would make the pottery and Julian would paint the design. This jar has a very round shape and a slight neck. The design painted on the shoulder is a cloud, rain, and lightning pattern. It has a striking stylistic pattern using extended lines, half-circles and open space imagery. The jar has a highly polished surface and a slight gunmetal appearance. The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Marie + Julian”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It’s always great to see early work by Maria and Julian in such good condition.
Maria Martinez Signatures
$ 3,500.00
Jacquie Stevens is best known for simple use of forms on her pottery. Over the years she brought an unexpected dimension to Native pottery with her immense, undulating vessels. Her Winnebago ancestry inspired her to add basket weaving and other materials as embellishments to her undecorated forms. Her aesthetic of the organic challenges the symmetry of Pueblo pottery and provides a provocative glimpse into the future of Native pottery. This bowl is a red clay with a matte surface. The simplicity of the bowl is enhanced by the complexity of the rim, which is a very tightly woven basket pattern. The holes in the side of the bowl are used to hold the stitching of the basketry. The basket perfectly matches the slope of the bowl. The piece is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. The piece is from 1995.
“The ceramics of Jacquie Stevens are to the casual observer beautiful, lyrical ware, but on a more subtle level, they are often subliminal statements about sensuous shapes, and the texture and volume of the human body—in an age when television advertising (not figurative painting or sculpture) has capitalized most powerfully on people’s love of and need for the truly human in their lives. Stevens’s work is also intellectual, playing on the ceramic traditions of potters from all over the world. Even when she is not working metaphorically, the artist’s involvement with texture, whether it be of scored clay, embellishments of beads, or the smoothness of hides, is her hallmark.” Spoken Through Clay
$ 2,400.00
This is a short neck jar by Maria Martinez and her son, Popovi Da. Maria made and polished the jar while it was painted by her son, Popovi Da (1923-1971). The jar is highly polished and has the classic cloud, wind and rain pattern which is painted around the shoulder. The shape is iconic for Maria with the high shoulder and short neck. While the painting and shape are beautiful, it is the firing which is striking. The jar has a very gunmetal in coloration to the surface with a very high shine. The jar is signed on thhttps://kinggalleries.com/maria-martinez-pottery-signatures/e bottom in the clay, “Maria Popovi 769“. The signature indicates that it was made around in July 1969. The jar is in excellent shape with no condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Maria Martinez Signatures
$ 4,000.00
This is an unusual tile by Ida Sahmie. The tile is fully polished and painted with natural clay slips and bee-weed (a plant) for the black. The front side has the Yei-bi-Chi figure, often also called the “Talking God”, who is the first in a series of eight during the Night Chant. The opposite side has the last figure. The figures are etched into the clay and then slipped with clay to create the colorations. Ida is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the side in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
$ 250.00
Myron Sarracino is one of the few Laguna potters working today. He learned to make pottery from Gladys Paquin and creates pieces which are thin-walled and tightly painted. This jar has a high shoulder and a more classic “olla” shape. Around the top and bottom of the jar are classic lightning designs in black and white. ARound the center is a larger lightning pattern in red with additional rain and cloud motifs. Note on the rim that there is a painted “spirit line”, which is where the “spirit” of the painter is able to leave the piece and it is also a tribute to the potters who came before. It is seen on much older Acoma and Laguna pottery. The jar is signed on the bottom.
$ 375.00
Carmel Lewis was the youngest daughter of noted potter Lucy Lewis. This bowl is coil built and painted with bee-weed and a red clay slip. The design is a classic Acoma pattern with rain, lightning and cloud designs. The pattern encircles the entire bowl. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Carmel Lewis”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 300.00
This is an intricately carved canteen by Autumn Borts-Medlock. She is known for her often fanciful carved pottery and use of unique shapes. The canteen is built with two handles. It is fully carved with a series of circles which flow around the piece. They are either polished or slipped with mica. There is also a micaceous lid which fits onto the top of the piece as well. The piece is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Autumn Borts”.
$ 1,400.00
This jar by Jody Naranjo is from 2005. It is highly polished and fully designed. The neck and base of the jar are fully polished and etched with her signature “kiva step” design. The center band is matte and the design is a series of bighorn sheep. They are each etched into the clay and they have large round horns, which add to the overall visual strength of the piece. The variations in color are from the firing. Note as well the etched linear designs in the background of the piece. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Jody said of her designing:
“As for the design on the top and the bottom, it was the kiva step in the beginning. My family used them but just parts of them, the top half of the design. I started making them just around the top of the pot in one row. Then it became two rows and three rows, and then I started filling in between them. Now it looks more like a textile, and it’s a signature pattern that I do on everything.” Jody Naranjo, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,400.00
This is an early carved bowl by Nancy Youngblood. The bowl is from 1977 when Nancy was just 22 years old! The shape is a classic bowl and the feathers are carved into the clay. Note the depth of the carving! Each feather is symmetric and precise. The entire piece is very highly polished and fired a deep black. It is easy to see looking at this bowl the level of talent evident in her early work and how that same precision in carving and polishing is still part of her work today. In the area below the shoulder, there is also a carved bear paw. It is a charming addition to the overall design. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Yellow Aspen Youngblood, Dec. 1977”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of noted jeweler Charles Loloma.
$ 2,300.00
This bowl by John Gonzales is from 1995. It is one of his few piece which is polished as opposed to matte clay slips. The bowl is fully polished and has an avanyu etched into the clay. The avanyu encircles the bowl and there is a single inset piece of turquoise for the eye. The bowl is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom.
$ 800.00
Rosalie and Joe Aguilar created some exceptional pottery throughout their time working together. In the 1930’s they began to make carved pottery. This plate is one of their most complex designs. The design is a Ram Dancer, which is seen at San Ildefonso Pueblo during Feast Day in January. The Ram Dancer is carved into the clay and there are incised designs on the kilt and legs along with painted designs on the neck and ram’s horn. Surrounding the figure are cloud, rain and lightning designs. The background area is matte against the polished surfaces of the design. The plate is signed on the back in the clay, “Rosalie & Joe”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. There are a few light scratches on the rim and back and a bit of wear along the back of the dancer. However, nothing unexpected which is not age-related. This is certainly a unique piece both culturally and artistically.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,400.00
This is a striking large bowl by Blue Corn. The bowl is a very round shape and it is fully polished with the white clay. It is painted with a red clay for the designs. Around the rim are rain and cloud designs. Around the side of the bowl are corn patterns which are highlighted with a black clay. However, the black clay has an almost-blusih tint in some light, which gives the piece a very striking appearance. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Blue Corn”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Certainly a classic by this important San Ildefonso potter.
$ 2,300.00
This seed bowl by Russell Sanchez incorporates two different colors of clay. The top and bottom are slipped with a deep red clay. The center has two bands of black clay which has been stone polished. The design on the top of the piece is a water serpent (avanyu) which encircles the bowl. Note the additional designs with the avanyu including the dots along the back and the bear paw. There is a single inset piece of turquoise for the eye. Below the avanyu are two bands of checkerboard corn patterns. They alternate from polished black to matte with an incised dot of red. The bowl is beautifully polished and fired. There are three bands of shell hei-shi beads inset into the piece. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay. Once again Russell deftly revives historic San Idlefonso designs and stories and uses them for his own contemporary work.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 3,400.00
Desideria Montoya Sanchez was a sister of noted potter Maria Martinez. She was known for her traditional pottery and use of both classic and innovative designs. This jar is from the 1920’s and has a wide shoulder and sloping sides. There are three sections of design, each with a stylized bird wing pattern. There are cloud patterns above the wings and below is a checkerboard design. Separating each of the sections are a series of small dots. The jar is highly polished and fired a slivery black coloration. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Desideria”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It’s great to see a piece of her pottery with such complex designs.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,600.00
Alton Komalestewa learned to make pottery from his mother-in-law, Helen Shupla. She was famous for her traditional melon bowls and over the years Alton has taken and refined this form. This large melon jar is an earlier piece of his pottery from the 1980’s and it is made with Santa Clara clay. The jar has 21 melon ribs which each pushed out from the inside so that there is an undulation of the ribs. Typical of Alton’s work, there is also a symmetry to each rib! Of course, it is technically difficult to stretch the clay and create even ribs. The jar is highly polished and fired a brown coloration. Again, much like Helen, Alton has continually experimented with various colors of clay throughout his career to create distinctive vessels. The jar has been traditionally fired and it is signed on the bottom by Alton and he also uses a katsina face as part of the hallmark of his name. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 2,400.00
This jar by Jody Naranjo is from 2005. It is highly polished and of her few pieces which is fired a deep black! The jar is designed after the firing. The top and base of the jar are fully etched with her signature “kiva step” design. The center band is also fully polished. Here she has her iconic “Crazy Horse” girl on a horse. There is additional etching for the handprint on the rear of the horse and the girl’s hair. The jar itself has square sides which, being flat, add a striking appearance to both the jar and the burnished surfaces. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Jody said of her designing:
“As for the design on the top and the bottom, it was the kiva step in the beginning. My family used them but just parts of them, the top half of the design. I started making them just around the top of the pot in one row. Then it became two rows and three rows, and then I started filling in between them. Now it looks more like a textile, and it’s a signature pattern that I do on everything.” Jody Naranjo, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,200.00
This is wedding vase by Russell Sanchez incorporates three different colors of clay. The top half is a lighter red clay, while the center band has a black clay slip. The bottom of the vase is a deep red. The wedding vase is etched with a sun designs extending down towards the base. Note that one side has a checkerboard pattern etched into the clay while the opposite has dots. Russell has been taking inspiration from the work of early San Ildefonso potters Tonita Roybal and Florentino Montoya for his designs. They are not copied but his own interpretation and revival of these creative designs. The shape of the wedding vase is elegant with a strong proportion between the shoulder and the spouts. Wedding vases are considered difficult to polish as the handles and spouts create unusual angles and directions in which the piece must be turned. It was traditionally fired and after the firing Russell inset two bands of jet hei-shi beads. The vase is signed on the bottom in the clay. Once again Russell deftly revives historic San Idlefonso designs and stories and uses them for his own contemporary work.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 3,800.00
This is a very deeply carved wide bowl by Jason Ebelacker. Jason is a son of noted potter Richard Ebelacker and grandson of Virginia Ebelacker. This bowl is coil built and very flat across the top. The bowl is carved with two bear paw medallions. Separating them are cloud and lightning designs. The bear paw design is classic in Santa Clara pottery as it represents a story of a bear leading the Pueblo people to water during a drought. The bowl is very deeply carved! Note as well the matte area which creates a strong visual contrast to the highly polished surface. The base of the bowl is also stone polished. It is fired a deep black coloration. The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay.
$ 2,000.00
Teresita Naranjo was a daughter of Christina Naranjo and know for her deeply carved pottery. This jar is fully carved with a feather pattern around the neck and water serpent around the body of the piece. It is very much like some of her larger pieces with complex designs. Note how deeply it is carved and the intricate flow of design on the body of the avanyu. It is traditionally fired black and signed on the bottom in the clay, “Teresita Naranjo”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 650.00
LuAnn Tafoya is known for her highly polished traditional Santa Clara pottery. This is a stunning large black storage jar. A storage jar is a particular shape in Santa Clara Pueblo pottery which usually has a round shape and a short neck. This piece is a classic shape with a very round form and just a slight indention before the neck. There are four bear paws on the piece. They are impressed into the clay and then the entire piece is fully polished. Did you know that the whole piece has to be polished at one time? Otherwise, the clay slip will dry and it won’t be as shiny in appearance. LuAnn said of her water jars:
“Sometimes the shape depends on how the clay is drying. Sometimes you have to bring it in right away. It is OK you can make it wider and then come in. I think for the first storage jar I used the puki given to my mom from my grandmother. It was narrow at the bottom. They made the base so the puki was just thin. We had to wire it to keep it attached. Later I made a new one with that form so I could have it for the future. It’s a nice shape going up from the bottom.” LuAnn Tafoya, Spoken Through Clay
The storage jar is highly polished and fired a striking glassy black coloration. LuAnn is one of the few potters making piece of such quality and historic continuity. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “LuAnn Tafoya”. It is an exceptional example of her skill, creativity, and commitment to traditional Santa Clara pottery.
$ 7,800.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1982 and it is highly polished and fired red. The design has six different Mimbres insects as the design. There are a bee, butterfly, beetle, mosquito and two others. Each is etched into the clay and then their bodies consist of additional designs. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. There are three different green clays, blue and white. Near the base is the yearly symbol for 1982, which is a “+”. The piece is very highly polished and intricately designed. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Joseph Lonewolf said of his use of Mimbres imagery in his pottery:
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,800.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1987 and it is highly polished and fired black. The design has two Mimbres inspired figures who are hunting a rabbit. One is holding a “rabbit stick” and the other has just thrown his. The opposite side has a Mimbres rabbit etched into the clay. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. Near the base is an incised butterfly. The 1987 symbol, the Propeller of Life, is also etched into the design. The piece is very highly polished and intricately designed. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Joseph Lonewolf said of his use of Mimbres imagery in his pottery:
“I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist, I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —Joseph Lonewolf, 1974, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,400.00
Louise E. Suina (1939-1992) was known for her intricately painted storytellers. This figure has eight children who are formed and painted with activities from playing ball to playing a drum. Note as well the very intricately painted design for the apron she is wearing. The figure is signed on the bottom, “Louise E. Suina”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 450.00
This larger jar by Eric Lewis is a new design for his pottery. It is a large bee graphic on one side and rain designs on the remainder of the jar. The piece has high shoulders and a short neck. The bee works well in it’s stylized form on this jar. Eric uses his designs to follow the shape of the jar and accentuate its form. Eric has taken classic Acoma linear designs and made them both bolder and more graphic. The result is a striking jar with tightly painted imagery. Eric remains one of the young Pueblo potters to watch!
$ 500.00
Al Qoyawayma is known for innovative pottery. This piece is from 1986 and is a classic wide shoulder water jar. The jar is stone polished in a vertical manner, which historically is often called an “onion skin” polish. The jar has four flute players as the design and they are each created in repousse, which is to say that they are pushed out from the inside (not applique). Al has often used the Flute Player, or Kokopelli, as a design on his pottery. It is an ancient figure often found on rock art throughout the southwest and “represents wisdom, goodness, and fertility.” The jar is signed on the bottom. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 6,500.00
This is wide jar by Debbie Clashin is painted with a stylized bird design. She is a cousin of noted potter Mark Tahbo and a descendant of Grace Chapella. Debbie has quickly become well known for her large-sized traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery. The jar has a sloping shoulder and there are two sections with swirling birds. Surrounding the birds are dragonflies and rain patterns. The jar is painted with bee-weed and natural clay slips. It was traditionally fired with blushes across the surface of the jar. It is signed on the bottom with her name and a pipe for his “Tobacco Clan”.
$ 700.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece is entitled, “Buffalo Dancer”. It was printed at El Cerro Graphics in New Mexico in 1984. The image on the front is a Pueblo Buffalo Dancer. It is framed and was made in 1984 and it is 23/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 600.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece is entitled, “Spirit of Winter”. It was printed at El Cerro Graphics in New Mexico in 1984. The image on the front is a Pueblo Deer Dancer. It is framed and on the back is the original documentation signed by Joseph Lonewolf for the edition. It was made in 1984 and it is 23/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 600.00
This seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf is from 1979. It has an incised antelope as the design on the top of the piece. On the sides of the piece are rain and lightning designs and even a very small dragonfly! It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The seedpot is signed on the bottom in the clay.
$ 1,100.00
This is a very intricate miniature seedpot by Ray Tafoya. The design has a Mimbres Big Horn Sheep as the main design. It is surrounded by additional prayer feather, lightning and mountain designs. All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips. The seedpot is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay with his hallmark.
$ 300.00
Susie Crank is a daughter of Rose Williams and a sister of Alice Cling. Each piece is coil built, stone polished and amazingly, she says he may burnish a piece over and over as many as 15 times to get a high shine! This water jar has a round body and an elongated neck. The jar is then traditionally fired to create the fire-clouds on the surface. The colorations on this jar range from black to a deep red. The jar was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof. Today, the pine pitch seals the vessel and gives it the shine. This jar has a stunning shine and a great feel to the surface! It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Susie Crank”.
$ 350.00
This is an intricately painted miniature jar by Dolores Curran. Before she began making her carved pieces, she was well known for her delicately painted buff-on-red pottery. This piece is unusual as it is fired black. It is fully polished and the jar has a square neck. The neck has a cloud and rain design and the shoulder has a water serpent (avanyu) encircling the piece. Much like her buff-on-red pieces, they design has to be painted over several times. Note the precision of the lines! The jar is signed on the bottom. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 125.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptional painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This large seedpot is painted on the top with an intricate design. There is a katsina figure in the center and it is surrounded with additional Acoma designs. All the fine-line patterns are delicately painted on this piece. All the various colors are from natural clay slips. The piece is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Natseway”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is a striking balance of traditional and historic imagery on a very modern form.
$ 350.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptional painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This wonderful seedpot has flat sides and an unusual pyramid form. The sides are each painted with different plant designs near the base. Above the plants is a band of leaf patterns and then two larger stylized birds. Note the very delicate lines painted for the plants and birds! All the various colors are from natural clay slips. The piece is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Natseway”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is a striking balance of traditional and historic imagery on a very modern form.
$ 450.00
Jason Garcia is known for his tiles, he also creates a few boxes and jars each year. This box is one that has four Corn Maidens painted, with one on each side. They are painted in the old “two-dimensional” style of Santa Clara art and each of the Corn Maidens represents a different direction (North, South, East, West) based on the color (Blue, Red, White, Yellow). In one hand she is holding corn and the other a basket of cornmeal. On the ground are stylized corn plants and there is a corn design on each of the dresses. The detail in this box is fantastic, with even small detailed created with the clay. The box is made of native clay and he uses native clay slips for the colors. It is signed on the bottom in the clay “Okuu Pin” which is Jason’s name in Tewa (which means Turtle Mountain). The piece is certainly inspired by the work of San Ildefonso painter Gilbert Atencio and his Blue Corn Maiden (see last photo).
$ 900.00
Tonita Roybal remains one of the great innovative names in San Ildefonso pottery. This jar reflects the exceptional nature of her pottery designs, shapes, and firing. The jar has a round shoulder and then and a slight indention before extending up to the neck. The jar itself is very highly polished and beautifully painted. The design is interesting with a reverse feather pattern which extends up from the base. What is interesting is the design leaves more open space and draws the eye to the shoulder. The jar is fired to a gunmetal appearance with areas which even have a gold-tone coloration. This “goldtone” is a rarity in her work and one which was achieved in the firing. The jar has a very metallic appearance with just the touch of yellow or gold in the light. The jar is from the 1920’s and it has its original sticker on the bottom. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed, “Tonita” in the clay on the bottom. As a provenance, the jar was de-acquisitioned from the American Indian Culture Research Center in Marvin, South Dakota. It still has the tag for its catalog number of 00251.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,600.00
This is a fascinating jar by Dominguita Pino Martinez. She was the mother of Cresencia Martinez and Tonita Roybal and the grandmother of Alfonso Roybal (Awa Tsireh), Tomasita Montoya Sanchez, JD Robyal and Margaret Lou Gutierrez. She was well known by the early 1900’s for her black-on-red pottery. This jar is a classic example of her work and although it was not signed (she did not sign any of her work), it has a great provenance. The piece was acquired from Dick Howard, who had shown the jar to Maria Martinez in 1965. Maria identified it as the work of Dominguita Pino from around 1915. Dick was one of the great early resources for getting pottery identified by Maria. Dick had written this out on the receipt for the piece when it was acquired in 1999 (see the last photo). However, it is not just the identification from Dick Howard, but the jar itself is one of her classic styles. The shape with the straight style of neck and the high shoulder are certainly associated with her work. The painting style of the open designs is also in her manner. Some of her later pieces are more detailed and probably painted by Tonita. The jar was slipped red and then painted with the black to create the coloration. It is in very good condition with no cracks, restoration or repair. There is a slight lean to one side and a small chip on the inside rim.
In “Spoken Though Clay” Dick Howard had an interesting quote (he had originally said to Richard Spivey) when talking about identifying historic San Ildefonso pottery.
“Because Maria—and I’ve found this to be true of other potters—considers the potter to be the one who does the potting. The painting is aside from that. Only rarely did she even comment on the painting. Once in a while she’d say, ‘Oh, that’s a nice design.’ But almost always she was really examining the potting, and she’d feel the pot or feel the inside. So unless I asked, as a follow-up, if the potter had also decorated it, she usually didn’t tell me one way or another, which I thought was interesting. Because to my eye what I often see first when I look at the decorated pot is the design, but that wasn’t what she saw. She always just sort of looked through the design.” —Richard Howard, 2000
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 5,800.00
Russell Sanchez continues to be one of the true innovators in Pueblo pottery. Each piece is perfectly coil built, stone polished and etched. This bowl is one of his first incorporating a polished white clay slip! The white is the same white clay used on historic San Ildefonso polychrome pottery when it was stone polished. This piece has a culturally inspired design with two different old style Sun Faces. Each sun is different and they are meant to represent the Summer people and the Winter people at the Pueblo. Each sun is etched into the white clay and they are highlighted with red and black clay. The rim has a rain design while the base has mountains with the sun rising. There is a striking degree of complexity in the etched imagery on this piece! As well, it is a true polychrome with polished deep red, white, black, light red and matte tan, red and black clay colorations. There are three inset bands of hematite hei-shi beads which encircle the bowl. As Russell continues to innovate from historic designs, he says, “Tradition means moving forward and adding to it. You keep moving forward. If we stayed stagnant we would no longer exist.” The bottom of the bowl is indented, which reflects the historic San Ildefonso pottery with the indented base which would be worn on the head. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay. The second to the last photo is of the bowl before it was fired. The last photo is of a similar Sun design from a San Ildefonso plate from the 1920s. It is exciting to see how this imagery is not new but Russell’s reinterpretation of it both modernizes and revives.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 6,800.00
Margaret Lou Gutierrez was the only daughter of noted potters Tonita & Juan Roybal. She began making pottery in the 1970’s and this is one of her pieces from the 1990’s. It is a mini bowl which is fully polished and painted with a cloud and rain design. The bowl is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret Lou Gutierrez”.
$ 75.00
Margaret Lou Gutierrez was the only daughter of noted potters Tonita & Juan Roybal. She began making pottery in the 1970’s and this is one of her pieces from the 1990’s. The jar has a long neck and a high shoulder. It is painted with her sharp, elongated feathers and it is very highly polished. The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret Lou Gutierrez”.
$ 200.00
Dennis Daubs is known for his intricately incised pottery. Each piece is coil built, stone polished and the imagery is etched into the surface of the clay. This jar has a water serpent in one section of the design. The remainder of the jar has etched feathers, rain and cloud patterns. The designs are very intricately etched and note the precision of the lines. The piece is signed, “Dennis Daubs”.
$ 200.00
This jar by Alice Cling has a deep coloration from the firing. Alice Cling is one of the great names in the revival of Navajo pottery in the 1980s. This jar is coil built, stone polished around the neck and striated corn husk designs down the size. This jar is a very traditional Navajo shape with a round body and a short neck. The design is very subtle but is the coloration of the firing which is so dynamic! The colors on this jar swirl and range from black to a deep red. The jar was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when the pitch was used to make the pottery utilitarian. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Alice Cling”. Alice has won numerous awards for her pottery and been featured in books such as “Legacy of Generations.”
$ 175.00
This is a charming jar by Lois Gutierrez. She is one of the few potters who continues to create polychrome pottery at Santa Clara. Polychrome, or more than three different colors of clay slips, are all painted onto the surface of the vessel before it is fired. This jar has a kive step design on one side, giving it a taller appearance. On the top there are also step designs representing the four directions. On the jar itself, it is fully designed with a Koshari Clown who is fishing. He is sitting by the water with a fishing pole and melons and a soda. The fishing pole has the line into the water and as the jar is turned you can see the fish below the water surface and follow the line. It is wrapped around his foot! All the colors are derived from natural clay slips. This jar has over five different natural clay colors utilized. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Lois”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks restoration or repair. This is certainly a classic piece of Lois’s pottery which combines a cultural legacy in design with one in clay.
ois Gutierrez is one of the few potters who continues to create polychrome pottery at Santa Clara. Polychrome, or more than three different colors of clay slips, are all painted onto the surface of the vessel before it is fired. This water jar has a wonderful shape with very round body and elongated neck. The design around the neck is a feather pattern. Note the use of the three different colors of clay for the tip of the feather in contrast to the white feathers. The body of the jar has two intertwined water serpents. Note the use of classic rain and seed patterns in the bodies of each avanyu. Above them is a rain cloud design. What makes them the “old style” avanyu? Check out the shape of the horn and the shape of the tongue. They each have the three prong style, and this is similar to the very early historic style of avany painted on the pottery! The base of the jar is indented, which is reminiscent of the historic Santa Clara water jars which were carried on the head. This jar has over five different natural clay colors utilized. This is certainly a classic piece of Lois’s pottery which combines a cultural legacy in design with one in clay.
$ 500.00
This is an early jar by Jody Naranjo is from 1990. It is highly polished to the shoulder and matte below. The top part is etched with eight flute players as the design. The background matte area is also designed with linear patterns. The jar is outdoor fired to create the coloration in the clay. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 450.00
Debra Duwyenie is well known for her wonderful miniatures and incised designs. Each piece is stone polished and then it is etched before it is fired! This seedpot has eight turtles as the design. Each of the turtles has a different design on the back. Note the one with the wavy lines, that one is meant to represent Preston Duwyenie, her husband, who is known for his “shifting sand” pottery. There are additional dragonflies and a water serpent at the base of the design. Note that the lighter red matte areas are where Debra has only etched away the polished surface but not down as far as the tan color of the clay. Debra also pays close attention to the little details like the tan background area and how evenly she etches the vertical lines. The seedpot is traditionally fired. It is signed on the bottom in the clay with Preston’s hallmark and “Debra”.
$ 450.00
Dominique Toya is known for her intricately carved pottery with sharp ridged melon swirls. This is an earlier piece of her pottery which is carved with six swirling melon ribs. The entire piece is fully stone polished to a high shine. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Damian Toya”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 400.00
This is a very traditionally inspired jar by Ida Sahmie. It is “The Four Sacred Plants”, which is a design often seen in sandpaintings. Here, Ida has painted it on a stone polished jar using natural clay slips and bee-weed (a plant) for the black. The four sacred plants are corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. There are both painted and matte areas along with incised designs. The tile was traditionally fired and it is signed on the back, “Ida Sahmie”. She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. The story of the Four Sacred Plants and the Dine people is as follows:
“Four Sacred Plants are assigned to the cardinal points, and amongst the Navajos Maize is the plant of the North, Beans of the east. This means that both are male and as both are grown for edible seeds, recognition of the physiological function of the male was probably involved in the selection. This is entirely possible since the convention could have been established only very late, after settlement in America. Squash, for the Navajos, is the plant of the South, which is fitting since its fruit is called “eight-sided” and the eight-sided earth (an alternative to the square earth, taking account of the diagonal directions) is female. Also the stalk is angled in sections, a feature deliberately exaggerated when the plant is depicted in sand paintings, and crooked things are female. Tobacco, which the Navajos put on the west, is female because it is used to make smoke which is blown out with the breath, and that is female. Below the Plants are white roots, the significance being that these plants still have their roots in the lower world.”
$ 325.00
Dolores Curran creates intricately incised and painted pottery. She was inspired to create these red polychrome incised and painted by her husband, Alvin Curran. He was known for his incised San Juan style pottery in the 1990’s. This piece is one of her lidded boxes. The box is oval and the sides are fully painted with geometric designs. There are feather, cloud and sun designs. Did you know that when she paints the designs, she goes over each area at least four times so that the white clay will be dark enough to show against the polished red surface! The lid has a water serpent incised into the clay in a San Juan style. The area is matte and there are red, white and brown clay slips. It is surrounded by a painted cloud design. Note on the lid there are red dots on one side and white dots on the other, to let you know which way to place the lid! The piece is wonderfully intricate in painting and complex in form. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.
$ 1,600.00
This jar by Alice Cling is a very classic Navajo shape with the high shoulder and the elongated neck. The jar has a raised “braid” encircling the piece near the neck. What is interesting about the raised design is not simply that it is an incised linear rain design. The pattern around the jar has a great texture and there is one small “gap” in the design, which is the “spirit line”. The jar is traditionally fired and it was fired very hot as it is a brownish coloration. The fire clouds still circle around on the surface of the jar. It was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when pine pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Alice Cling”. Alice has won numerous awards for her pottery and been featured in books such as “Legacy of Generations.” She remains one of the great names in the revival of Navajo pottery in the 1980’s
$ 110.00
This is a wide jar by Preston Duwyenie. The shape is one which Preston calls a “shoulder jar” as it is inspired by the historic Sikyaki pottery with the wide shoulders. Preston’s modernist version has a wide shoulder and a small neck. The piece is made from micaceous clay and slipped with a micaceous clay slip. It is fired black and the mica gives the piece a somewhat metallic appearance. There is a single inset piece of silver on the top shoulder of the jar. The silver has the appearance of “shifting sands”, much in a similar style to the pottery where he has carved a shifting sand pattern. It is cast by Preston against cuttlefish bone, to create the distinctive texture. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay with Preston’s hallmark, which means “carried in beauty”. There is certainly something both modern and ancient about this striking piece! Preston is from Third Mesa at Hopi and taught ceramics for years at Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) in Santa Fe. He is married to pottery Debra Duwyenie and now resides in Santa Clara Pueblo. Preston has won numerous awards for pottery, including “Best of Show” at the Heard Indian Market.
$ 900.00
This is a very traditionally inspired jar by Dextra Quotskuyva. She is certainly one of the great innovators among Hopi-Tewa potters. Her work began with more classic imagery and then has evolved over the years to more unique and stylized designs. This piece is from the mid-1980’s. It is inspired by the work of Nampeyo of Hano and the early style of painted red on the pottery. In the early 1930’s Mary Colton at the Museum of Northern Arizona introduced a new clay slip to Hopi. Previously the red had a more ‘painterly” appearance (see last photo of a jar by Nampeyo of Hano), which allowed the clay to show through. The new red is the one we see used today which more completely covers the painted area. This jar looks back at the earlier style of Nampeyo and the red which has a more “painterly” appearance. This jar is painted with red around the neck and the remainder has a classic eagle tail design. However, note the very thin lines for the checkerboard pattern on the bird tail. The style of the painting is certainly Dextra’s but there is a wonderful homage to the work of her great-grandmother as well! The bowl is traditionally fired so that there are blushes and color variations around the surface. It is signed on the bottom with bee-weed, “Dextra” with an ear of corn representing the Corn Clan. The jar is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The piece comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife not noted Hopi jeweler Charles Loloma and it is a piece the acquired directly from Dextra. Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.
$ 6,500.00
Paulita Pacheco (b. 1943) is a sister of noted potter Robert Tenorio. She is married to Gilbert Pacheco and her daughter, Rose Pacheco continues to make traditional style Kewa pottery. Paulita learned to make pottery from her mother Juanita C. Tenorio and grandmother Andrea Ortiz. This jar is coil built, painted with bee-weed (black) and red clay slips and traditionally fired. The jar has a classic style Kewa bird as the design along with flowers which encircle the jar. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Paulita Pacheco”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 400.00
Charmae Natseway is known for her exceptionally painted pottery and use of distinctive forms. This piece is from 1981 and it is one of her classic canteen shapes. On the front are a Mimbres style bird and two lizards. They are very detailed in design. The mouth of the canteen and the handles are slipped with a red clay. On the back is a red flower with black petals. It is signed on the bottom, “Charmae Shields Natseway”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 500.00
Joseph Lonewolf created a series of original etchings based on designs from his pottery. This piece has quail and butterflies as the design. It is very intricately designed with many of the same motifs he used in his pottery. It is dated 1981 and signed and numbered 18/60. It is in excellent condition.
$ 200.00
This is an original etching by Rosemary Lonewolf. The figure is a Corn Spirit holding an ear of corn and surrounded by a corn stalk and pollen. It is 4/60 and titled, “Corn Spirit’s Fertile Form”. It is signed, “Rosemary Apple Blossom Lonewolf”. It is in excellent condition.
$ 125.00
This is an original etching by Camilio Tafoya. It uses similar designs to those in his pottery. Here it depicts a charming combination of frogs and mice playing in the sun. There are additional colors added to the etching. This piece is 23/60 and it was printed by El Cerro Graphics, who printed all of Camilio and Jospeh’s etchings. It is dated 1981 and signed, “Camilio Sunflower Tafoya”. It is in excellent condition.
$ 150.00
This seedpot by Art Cody Haungooah is from 1981. It is fully polished and has etched designs. There is a sunface in one medallion. The other medallion ahs a lizard and frog. This medallion is “two-toned” to make it black-and sienna. The contrast of the highly polished surfaces and the color from the sienna is striking. Art was Kiowa and married to Martha Suazo from Santa Clara and that is where he began to make pottery. The bowl is signed, “Haungooah” and a flute player. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Art Cody Haungooh: A “Reflected Light” in Pueblo Pottery
$ 250.00
While Nancy Youngblood is known for her swirl melon bowls and carved pottery, she started out her career making miniatures. This miniature is from 1975 which makes it a very early piece of her pottery! It is a miniature kiva bowl and it is fully polished on the inside and the outside. The edges of the kiva steps are matte in contrast to the highly polished surface. Note as well the little holes in the sides of the kiva steps. On larger pieces the holes would be placed in the kiva bowls so that eagle feathers could be attached. It is amazing that she was able to replicate this concept in miniature! The bowl is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Yellow Aspen ’75”.
$ 900.00
This is an intricately painted miniature seedpot by Dolores Curran. Before she began making her carved pieces, she was well known for her delicately painted buff-on-red pottery. The bowl is highly polished red and painted with a buff clay for the design. Amazingly, she would paint each piece up to five times to get the color of the matte painted areas deep and consistent enough! This piece has a feather pattern which encircles the piece. Below are cloud and rain designs. Around the top is a water serpent. Note the precision of the lines! So why doesn’t Dolores make this style anymore? She ran out of the cream-colored clay slip for the painting, and so only uses it as an accent on her new work! As well, this is a larger sized piece of her painted pottery, as she mostly made miniatures due to the time-consuming nature of the painting. The bowl is signed on the bottom. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 150.00
Veronica Naranjo is a daughter of Barbarita Naranjo and a granddaughter of Pasqualita Tafoya. This is one of her few plates but carved in her very deep style. The design is an avanyu which encircles the plate. It is stone polished and traditionally fired. The carving is deep for the size of the piece. It is signed on the back in the clay, “Veronica”
$ 120.00
This seedpot by Art Cody Haungooah is from 1977. It is fully polished and has a single etched medallion. The design is the “Mosquito Man”. It is a design which is found on the kiva murals at Pottery Mound, NM. The last photo is the Mosquito Man from the actual murals. On this piece, Art depicted the figure with a striking similarity to the actual mural figure. The remainder of the piece is highly polished. It is signed, “Haungooah” and a flute player. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Art Cody Haungooh: A “Reflected Light” in Pueblo Pottery
$ 200.00
SaraFina Tafoya was the matriarch of a family of renowned potters, including her children Margaret Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, and Christina Naranjo. While she is known for her large vessels, in the 1930’s she created a series of smaller painted and plainware vessels which were signed. They are unusual and scarce pieces, yet a fascinating part of the history of Santa Clara pottery. This is an exceptional polychrome plate. The design in the center is a boar and it is surrounded by an avanu (water serpent). They are both painted with a red clay slip and accented with white and gray. The design of the boar is unusual in Santa Clara designs from this period. The plate is signed on the back in the clay, “Serafina Santa Clara Pueblo”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Signed, “Serafina”: The Signed Pottery of SaraFina Tafoya
$ 4,000.00
SaraFina Tafoya was the matriarch of a family of renowned potters, including her children Margaret Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, and Christina Naranjo. While she is known for her large vessels, in the 1930’s she created a series of smaller painted and plainware vessels which were signed. They are unusual and scarce pieces, yet a fascinating part of the history of Santa Clara pottery. This bowl is a classic piece of painted pottery and has a fascinating provenance. The bowl was originally acquired in 1933 by the Denver Art Museum. It was included in the book “Margaret Tafoya” by Mary Ellen and Lawrence Blair on p. 53 (fig. 2-19). The bowl was later deaccessioned by the DAM and ended up in a private collection. The bowl is fully polished and painted red-on-red with a lightning design. The designs are highlighted with a white clay slip. It is a complex and varied design which relies as much on the matte painted areas as the negative polished space. The bowl is signed in the clay on the bottom, “Sarafina Tafoya”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Interestingly, it still has the original catalog number for the museum as well as the museum card. Definitely a great piece of history!
Signed, “Serafina”: The Signed Pottery of SaraFina Tafoya
$ 1,800.00
This is a creatively designed plate by Maximiliana “Anna” Martinez, who was a sister of Maria Martinez. It is fully polished on the front and matte on the back. The plate has a checkerboard pattern in the center and a triangular design emanating out to the rim. The charming part of the plate is the very thinly painted water serpent which encircles the central checkerboard medallion. The plate is fired a deep black in coloration. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Anna”. Why is the work of Anna Martinez important? Interestingly, Maria would often say she was the best painter in the family. She was married to Cresencio Martinez, who was known for his paintings and was also a brother to Tonita Roybal. One can begin to see how her talent was easily fostered by those around her making a plate such as this one a creative classic!
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,400.00
This is a smaller bowl by Tom Tapia. It is highly polished and designed with a series of designs. There is a Tewa Dancer with a drum along with a sun and Pueblo scene. There is another katsina figure and finally a corn plant. The bowl was fired black and then the reddish clay coloration is added after the firing. It is this color combination for which Tom achieved recognition. The bowl is signed, “Tom Tapia”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 200.00
Tomasita Montoya is one of the early revivalists in San Juan pottery. She was one of the original seven San Juan potters who revived the art form in the 1930’s. The Pueblo was renown for their pottery but by about 1890 there were no potters left. In 1930 Regina Cata organized a pottery study group at San Juan Pueblo with the intent of revitalizing pottery production. The group studied ancient potsherds of wares made at San Juan in earlier times and selected Potsuwi‘i Incised Ware (1450-1500) as a basis for a contemporary pottery type. This is a large open bowl with kiva steps or cloud designs. The rim of the bowl has a step pattern which has incised mountain designs. The center of the bowl is deeply carved and then slipped with additional clays for the coloration. The fascinating part about this piece is that it combines both the Potsuw’i’i incised designs on the terraced edges and the San Juan carved designs. The back is fully polished. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tomasita Montoya”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Tomasita Montoya”.
$ 875.00
This is a classic open bowl by Dextra Quotskuyva. She is certainly one of the great innovators among Hopi-Tewa potters. Her work began with more classic imagery and then has evolved over the years to more unique and stylized designs. This piece is from about 1985 and it is featured in the book, “Painted Perfection” on p. 25. The design is classic Nampeyo pattern of the Blackbird Migration. The design is very intricately painted and swirls around the inside of the bowl. The bowl itself has a carved rim, which is almost mesa-like in shape. From certain angles, it is as if the one is looking over the edge of the mesa and seeing the birds flying in the sky! The bowl was traditionally fired to create the various fire clouds on the surface. It is signed on the bottom with bee-weed, “Dextra” with an ear of corn representing the Corn Clan. The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. The bowl comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of noted Hopi silversmith Charles Loloma. It’s great to have a piece with such exceptional provenance! Dextra has been the subject of a retrospective of her pottery at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture called, “Painted Perfection“.
$ 7,000.00
This is an exceptional original clay piece by Roxanne Swentzell. It is entitled “Indian On the Edge”. The figure is one of the few males she has made during her career. There is a look of uncertainty in the eyes of the eyes of the figure as he is looking over the edge. The piece sits almost flat but when placed on the edge it balances out. Roxanne had said of this piece, that, its quizzical look and inability to sit evenly on a flat surface is about the feeling of being stranded between two cultures and unable to be comfortable in either one. It is definitely a powerful piece of her work and a great statement on the lives of many native artists. The hair is sculpted with clay hair ties which extend to the back and the side. The parrot feathers are tied in bundles and added to the piece. The sculptural quality of the hands and feet is striking on this figure. This piece is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is from early 2000 and signed in the clay, “ROX”.
$ 11,000.00
This is an amazingly intricate miniature by Ida Sahmie. It is the Day Chant Dance with eight male Yei-bi-chi dancers encircling the jar. The background area is fully polished the natural color of the clay. In the background, there are the mesas, clouds, and even birds! Note how she has also painted the shadows of each dancer extending to the base of the bowl. Ida also incises into the clay for the faces and the bodies, leather and masks. She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
$ 275.00
This is an exceptional lidded jar by Ray Tafoya. The jar has a realistic buffalo etched around the neck. Below is a stylized Buffalo Dancer. On either side of the medallion are a male and female Buffalo Dancer. Around the neck are etched feathers and separating the two dancers are prayer feather desigsn. The lid of the piece has a buffalo on the top. There are coral and turquoise additions on the buffalo lid. Ray used an additional red clay color to accentuate the designs. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay along with his hallmark, “White Mountain”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Note how many of the geometric designs are similar to ones used today by his daughter, Jennifer Tafoya.
$ 700.00
This is a charming duck clay figure from Jamie Peynetsa. He is the son of noted potters Anderson and Avelia Peynetsa. Avelia, his mother, coil builds the clay vessel. Jamie paints the design. He has strong attention to the detail of the painting as well as his inspiration from classic Zuni pottery. This duck is slipped with white clay and then painted with designs. The wings are and eyes are intricately painted and the dots on the front of the head are raised. The duck has a turned head and a two feathers extending up from its head. It is signed by Jamie and his mother on the bottom.
$ 300.00
This is an exceptional miniature by Ida Sahmie. For the size, it has incredible detail, as one might expect from a great miniature in pottery! It is the Night Chant Dance with eight male Yei-bi-chi dancers encircling the jar. The background area is fully painted with bee-weed (a plant) to make it black. In the background, there are the mesas, moon, and stars. Ida also incises into the clay for the faces and the bodies, leather, and masks. The detail here is quite exceptional! She is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
“Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or “maternal grandfather of the yei”, is another name of Talking God who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and Water Sprinkler, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.) He is invoked (along with eight other male yei) in the “Night Chant” or “Nightway” sometimes simply called “Yei bichei,” a nine-night ceremony in which masked dancers personify the gods.”
$ 275.00
This is a classic original clay piece by Roxanne Swentzell. It is entitled “The Seduction”. The figure is made from clay and she is in a reclining position. Her one hand is holding up her head while the other is extending outward with the finger extended. She is beckoning the viewer forward. There is a gentleness to the figure and the face. The continuous coloration of the figure accentuates the form. Note the detail in the hands and the feet as well. This piece is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is from early 2000s and signed in the clay, “ROX”.
$ 11,000.00
This water jar by Jason Ebelacker is a striking vessel, which finds its reference in a very historical form. The jar has a very wide shoulder which then curves downward before extending up to the neck. There is just a slight turn out of the rim. The jar is highly polished and fired a deep black. The various curves on the jar create beautiful angles for the reflection of light.. Jason is a son of noted potter Richard Ebelacker and grandson of Virginia Ebelacker.
$ 3,000.00
This is an amazing large open bowl by Jacob Koopee. Jake was known for his large pieces and his variations on traditional Hopi-Tewa designs. This large open bowl is coil built and it is painted on the outside and the inside. On the outside there is the classic migration pattern. Jake had an ability to paint the fine lines of the pattern thin and even. The inside of the bowl is also fully painted with hand prints and cradle dolls. Each of the cradle dolls is a different katsina, including a Qooqule, Grandmother, Runner and other figures. The small hand prints were meant to represent the children given the cradle dolls as gifts. The bowl is signed on the bottom with a flute player, which was one of Jake’s signatures. This immense bowl is a striking example of his skill as both potter and painter. It is traditionally fired and painted with bee weed (black) and natural clay slips. Jake won numerous awards during his career including “Best of Show” in 2005 at both Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Market. I was lucky to have been a pottery judge both years at both events, and it was exciting to see an artist create such dynamic work. Our consignor has asked us to lower the price, which makes this large bowl an exceptional value.
$ 9,200.00
This is a classic round jar by Maria Martinez and her husband, Julian. Maria would make the pottery and Julian would paint the design. This jar has a very round shape and a slight neck. The design painted on the shoulder is a cloud, rain, and lightning pattern. It has a striking stylistic pattern using extended lines, half-circles and open space imagery. The jar has a highly polished surface and a slight gunmetal appearance. The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Marie + Julian”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It’s always great to see early work by Maria and Julian in such good condition.
Maria Martinez Signatures
$ 3,500.00
Jacquie Stevens is best known for simple use of forms on her pottery. Over the years she brought an unexpected dimension to Native pottery with her immense, undulating vessels. Her Winnebago ancestry inspired her to add basket weaving and other materials as embellishments to her undecorated forms. Her aesthetic of the organic challenges the symmetry of Pueblo pottery and provides a provocative glimpse into the future of Native pottery. This bowl is a red clay with a matte surface. The simplicity of the bowl is enhanced by the complexity of the rim, which is a very tightly woven basket pattern. The holes in the side of the bowl are used to hold the stitching of the basketry. The basket perfectly matches the slope of the bowl. The piece is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay. The piece is from 1995.
“The ceramics of Jacquie Stevens are to the casual observer beautiful, lyrical ware, but on a more subtle level, they are often subliminal statements about sensuous shapes, and the texture and volume of the human body—in an age when television advertising (not figurative painting or sculpture) has capitalized most powerfully on people’s love of and need for the truly human in their lives. Stevens’s work is also intellectual, playing on the ceramic traditions of potters from all over the world. Even when she is not working metaphorically, the artist’s involvement with texture, whether it be of scored clay, embellishments of beads, or the smoothness of hides, is her hallmark.” Spoken Through Clay
$ 2,400.00
This is a short neck jar by Maria Martinez and her son, Popovi Da. Maria made and polished the jar while it was painted by her son, Popovi Da (1923-1971). The jar is highly polished and has the classic cloud, wind and rain pattern which is painted around the shoulder. The shape is iconic for Maria with the high shoulder and short neck. While the painting and shape are beautiful, it is the firing which is striking. The jar has a very gunmetal in coloration to the surface with a very high shine. The jar is signed on thhttps://kinggalleries.com/maria-martinez-pottery-signatures/e bottom in the clay, “Maria Popovi 769“. The signature indicates that it was made around in July 1969. The jar is in excellent shape with no condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
Maria Martinez Signatures
$ 4,000.00
This is an unusual tile by Ida Sahmie. The tile is fully polished and painted with natural clay slips and bee-weed (a plant) for the black. The front side has the Yei-bi-Chi figure, often also called the “Talking God”, who is the first in a series of eight during the Night Chant. The opposite side has the last figure. The figures are etched into the clay and then slipped with clay to create the colorations. Ida is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and Ida continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs. She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market. She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery. It is signed on the side in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.
$ 250.00
Myron Sarracino is one of the few Laguna potters working today. He learned to make pottery from Gladys Paquin and creates pieces which are thin-walled and tightly painted. This jar has a high shoulder and a more classic “olla” shape. Around the top and bottom of the jar are classic lightning designs in black and white. ARound the center is a larger lightning pattern in red with additional rain and cloud motifs. Note on the rim that there is a painted “spirit line”, which is where the “spirit” of the painter is able to leave the piece and it is also a tribute to the potters who came before. It is seen on much older Acoma and Laguna pottery. The jar is signed on the bottom.
$ 375.00
Carmel Lewis was the youngest daughter of noted potter Lucy Lewis. This bowl is coil built and painted with bee-weed and a red clay slip. The design is a classic Acoma pattern with rain, lightning and cloud designs. The pattern encircles the entire bowl. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Carmel Lewis”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 300.00
This is an intricately carved canteen by Autumn Borts-Medlock. She is known for her often fanciful carved pottery and use of unique shapes. The canteen is built with two handles. It is fully carved with a series of circles which flow around the piece. They are either polished or slipped with mica. There is also a micaceous lid which fits onto the top of the piece as well. The piece is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Autumn Borts”.
$ 1,400.00
This jar by Jody Naranjo is from 2005. It is highly polished and fully designed. The neck and base of the jar are fully polished and etched with her signature “kiva step” design. The center band is matte and the design is a series of bighorn sheep. They are each etched into the clay and they have large round horns, which add to the overall visual strength of the piece. The variations in color are from the firing. Note as well the etched linear designs in the background of the piece. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Jody said of her designing:
“As for the design on the top and the bottom, it was the kiva step in the beginning. My family used them but just parts of them, the top half of the design. I started making them just around the top of the pot in one row. Then it became two rows and three rows, and then I started filling in between them. Now it looks more like a textile, and it’s a signature pattern that I do on everything.” Jody Naranjo, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,400.00
This is an early carved bowl by Nancy Youngblood. The bowl is from 1977 when Nancy was just 22 years old! The shape is a classic bowl and the feathers are carved into the clay. Note the depth of the carving! Each feather is symmetric and precise. The entire piece is very highly polished and fired a deep black. It is easy to see looking at this bowl the level of talent evident in her early work and how that same precision in carving and polishing is still part of her work today. In the area below the shoulder, there is also a carved bear paw. It is a charming addition to the overall design. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Yellow Aspen Youngblood, Dec. 1977”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It comes to us from the collection of Georgia Loloma, the wife of noted jeweler Charles Loloma.
$ 2,300.00
This bowl by John Gonzales is from 1995. It is one of his few piece which is polished as opposed to matte clay slips. The bowl is fully polished and has an avanyu etched into the clay. The avanyu encircles the bowl and there is a single inset piece of turquoise for the eye. The bowl is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It is signed on the bottom.
$ 800.00
Rosalie and Joe Aguilar created some exceptional pottery throughout their time working together. In the 1930’s they began to make carved pottery. This plate is one of their most complex designs. The design is a Ram Dancer, which is seen at San Ildefonso Pueblo during Feast Day in January. The Ram Dancer is carved into the clay and there are incised designs on the kilt and legs along with painted designs on the neck and ram’s horn. Surrounding the figure are cloud, rain and lightning designs. The background area is matte against the polished surfaces of the design. The plate is signed on the back in the clay, “Rosalie & Joe”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. There are a few light scratches on the rim and back and a bit of wear along the back of the dancer. However, nothing unexpected which is not age-related. This is certainly a unique piece both culturally and artistically.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,400.00
This is a striking large bowl by Blue Corn. The bowl is a very round shape and it is fully polished with the white clay. It is painted with a red clay for the designs. Around the rim are rain and cloud designs. Around the side of the bowl are corn patterns which are highlighted with a black clay. However, the black clay has an almost-blusih tint in some light, which gives the piece a very striking appearance. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Blue Corn”. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Certainly a classic by this important San Ildefonso potter.
$ 2,300.00
This seed bowl by Russell Sanchez incorporates two different colors of clay. The top and bottom are slipped with a deep red clay. The center has two bands of black clay which has been stone polished. The design on the top of the piece is a water serpent (avanyu) which encircles the bowl. Note the additional designs with the avanyu including the dots along the back and the bear paw. There is a single inset piece of turquoise for the eye. Below the avanyu are two bands of checkerboard corn patterns. They alternate from polished black to matte with an incised dot of red. The bowl is beautifully polished and fired. There are three bands of shell hei-shi beads inset into the piece. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay. Once again Russell deftly revives historic San Idlefonso designs and stories and uses them for his own contemporary work.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 3,400.00
Desideria Montoya Sanchez was a sister of noted potter Maria Martinez. She was known for her traditional pottery and use of both classic and innovative designs. This jar is from the 1920’s and has a wide shoulder and sloping sides. There are three sections of design, each with a stylized bird wing pattern. There are cloud patterns above the wings and below is a checkerboard design. Separating each of the sections are a series of small dots. The jar is highly polished and fired a slivery black coloration. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Desideria”. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It’s great to see a piece of her pottery with such complex designs.
Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940
$ 1,600.00
Alton Komalestewa learned to make pottery from his mother-in-law, Helen Shupla. She was famous for her traditional melon bowls and over the years Alton has taken and refined this form. This large melon jar is an earlier piece of his pottery from the 1980’s and it is made with Santa Clara clay. The jar has 21 melon ribs which each pushed out from the inside so that there is an undulation of the ribs. Typical of Alton’s work, there is also a symmetry to each rib! Of course, it is technically difficult to stretch the clay and create even ribs. The jar is highly polished and fired a brown coloration. Again, much like Helen, Alton has continually experimented with various colors of clay throughout his career to create distinctive vessels. The jar has been traditionally fired and it is signed on the bottom by Alton and he also uses a katsina face as part of the hallmark of his name. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
$ 2,400.00
This jar by Jody Naranjo is from 2005. It is highly polished and of her few pieces which is fired a deep black! The jar is designed after the firing. The top and base of the jar are fully etched with her signature “kiva step” design. The center band is also fully polished. Here she has her iconic “Crazy Horse” girl on a horse. There is additional etching for the handprint on the rear of the horse and the girl’s hair. The jar itself has square sides which, being flat, add a striking appearance to both the jar and the burnished surfaces. The jar is signed, “Jody Naranjo” and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. Jody said of her designing:
“As for the design on the top and the bottom, it was the kiva step in the beginning. My family used them but just parts of them, the top half of the design. I started making them just around the top of the pot in one row. Then it became two rows and three rows, and then I started filling in between them. Now it looks more like a textile, and it’s a signature pattern that I do on everything.” Jody Naranjo, Spoken Through Clay
$ 1,200.00
This is wedding vase by Russell Sanchez incorporates three different colors of clay. The top half is a lighter red clay, while the center band has a black clay slip. The bottom of the vase is a deep red. The wedding vase is etched with a sun designs extending down towards the base. Note that one side has a checkerboard pattern etched into the clay while the opposite has dots. Russell has been taking inspiration from the work of early San Ildefonso potters Tonita Roybal and Florentino Montoya for his designs. They are not copied but his own interpretation and revival of these creative designs. The shape of the wedding vase is elegant with a strong proportion between the shoulder and the spouts. Wedding vases are considered difficult to polish as the handles and spouts create unusual angles and directions in which the piece must be turned. It was traditionally fired and after the firing Russell inset two bands of jet hei-shi beads. The vase is signed on the bottom in the clay. Once again Russell deftly revives historic San Idlefonso designs and stories and uses them for his own contemporary work.
Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past
$ 3,800.00
Locations: 4168 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 - Phone: 480.481.0187 | 130 Lincoln Ave #D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 - Phone: 480.440.3912 | Email: kgs@kinggalleries.com
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