Mary Ester Archuleta is the second youngest daughter of Margaret Tafoya.  She has never made a lot of pottery, and most of it was created in the 1970s and 1980s. This is an exceptional piece that is from the 1960s. The jar has a narrow base and a nearly perfectly flat top!  The top is deeply carved with an avanyu encircling the piece.  The carved avanyu is delicate in design and flows across the surface.  How she was able make the top so flat, AND carve it, is what is so exceptional.  The entire piece is fully polished and it was traditionally fired a deep red coloration.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Mary Archuleta.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

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Archuleta, Mary Ester (b. 1942)

Mary Ester Archuleta

Mary Ester Archuleta is a daughter of Margaret Tafoya and a sister of renown potters Shirley Tafoya, Mela Youngblood, LuAnn Tafoya and Toni Roller. While growing up in Santa Clara, she married and moved to San Juan Pueblo in the 1960's. She was pivotal in the revival of San Juan incised pottery in the early 1970's and is one of the few potters who can stone polish the tan coloration on her pottery with such a high shine. Mary has never been a prolific potter and rarely made large vessels. While Mary no longer makes much pottery, she has won numerous awards for her pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market and has been written about in various books including, "Born of Fire."