Archuleta, Mary Ester – Red Jar with 20 Incised Feathers (2000)

6"w x 6"h

$ 2,200.00

This is a classic incised jar by Mary Ester Archuleta.  The jar is fully polished red on the rim and base.  It is incised around the center in an Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) “potsuwi’i” style.  It was this style that Mary helped to revive in the 1970s as part of the second San Juan Revival when she married into the Pueblo.  The center band is matte and has 20 incised feathers.  They are slipped with mica in contrast to the polished surfaces.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Mary Archuleta.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Mary is Margaret Tafoya’s second youngest daughter.  She married into San Juan Pueblo in the late 1960s and created most of her pieces in the San Juan-inspired style.  It was her marriage at San Juan and reviving pottery there that reminded Margaret of how she learned to polish the tan slip when her brother had married and moved there years earlier.