Tony Da is one of the great innovative names in Pueblo pottery.  He had a very short career which spanned from 1967-82.  At his first art show at Gallup Ceremonials in 1967, he not only won blue ribbons for each piece, but they added new categories for his innovative art in clay.  In 1982 he had a motorcycle accident and was no longer able to make pottery.  Between 1984-86 he painted a small number of casein paintings.  They were no longer as fluid in his signature layering of colors as his early paintings.  However, they captured the idea of his early work and were also painted in casein.  This painting has a Mimbres rabbit on one side and an avanyu “plate” on the other side.  This painting is from 1985 and it exceptional in detail and striking in coloration.  It is signed “T.DA” and it is in excellent condition.  Definitely a classic of his later art paintings.

“People often approach me and ask why they don’t see much of my pottery today. The simple truth is that I originally started as a painter, and working with pottery came later, quite by accident. Abstract design such as geometric and parallel lines have always been intriguing and have held a strange fascination for me. Perhaps this also explains why speculation about time, space, and man’s position in the universe has always been a preoccupation of mine. I only can wish my work will remain in the future as a cultural testimony to these times.””  Tony Da, Spoken Through Clay