Mary Ester Archuleta is the second youngest daughter of Margaret Tafoya.  While she no longer makes pottery she was active in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  This is one of her few figurative pieces.  It is a clay turtle and the shell is corrugated and then fully polished!  It is really amazing that she could polish all the various angles and edges of the shell and not have it chip!  The piece is fired a dark black.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Mary E. Archuleta”.