Garcia, Tina – Black Gourd Jar with 7 Indentions (1989)

Tina Garcia was well known for her focus on traditional shapes and plainware Santa Clara pottery. This is a “gourd” bowl, which derives its name from the impressed sections on the shoulder of the bowl.  Sections of gourds were traditionally used to smooth out the inside of a bowl when it is being made so that there would not be any air pockets.  The shape of the piece of the gourd is similar to the shape of the indentions!  This bowl has seven gourd indentions on the top of the shoulder.  It is fully polished to a high shine and fired a deep black.   Tina was always focused on form and polish and this created some exceptional vessels.  It is signed on the bottom, “Tina Garcia”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.

Why is it called a gourd jar?  Mary Ester Archuleta told me the story about the from in the book, Born of Fire:

 The Story of the Gourd Pot”  “Remember the story about the gourd.  The gourd was asking Mother Clay, why she was just used for shaping the pottery. Why was she not given her own design? So she was allowed to create her own design.  That’s why we have this shape, with the flat sides.”  Mary Esther Archuleta, Born of Fire

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Garcia, Tina (1957-2005)

Tina Garcia was a sister of Greg Garcia, Virginia Garcia and John Garcia.  She was a granddaughter of Severa Tafoya.  Tina won numerous awards for her pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Market. She was known for her use of traditional shapes and her exquisite polishing. Her pottery can be found at the Heard Museum, the Denver Art Museum and other museums around the country.