This is an unusual clay figure from Helen Cordero. She is undoubtedly one of the great names in Cochiti pottery.  It was in 1964 that Cordero said she made her first storyteller.  According to her, “I made some more of my Storytellers with lots of children climbing on him to listen, then I took them up to the Santo Domingo Feast Day” and the rest is history.  Her early pieces were all males, to honor her grandfather, whom she would hear telling children stories of Pueblo life and culture.  She received the New Mexico Governor’s award in 1982 and the NEA Heritage Fellowship in 1986.  This piece was made in the early 1970s and was among her first departures into female figures.  This “Singing Mother” is amazingly detailed in its painting, which indicates an early time-period for the piece. Check out the detail on her sash, the necklace, and even the hem on her dress!  There are even two little painted tassels coming off her right arm.  Note as well the bowl she is holding, which has a traditional Cochiti cloud and lightning design, as well as the Cochiti spirit line.  It is a striking example of her skill as a painter as well as a figurative potter.  The piece was painted with wild spinach (black) and red clay on white clay.  It was traditionally fired.  It is signed on the bottom, “Helen Cordero”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

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