Louise Goodman (1937-2015) was from Cow Springs on the Navajo Nation.  She began her pottery career making utilitarian pottery.  In the 1980s, she began making animal figures.  Her stylized bears are notable for their small heads and legs and substantial torsos, as well as surface textures that mimic a bear’s thick fur.  This is one of her larger bears.  It is 16.5″h and has a charming face!  It is holding a honey jar in one of its paws.  It is one of the few pieces we have had by her that wasn’t made to be a “piggy bank”.  It was traditionally fired and then covered in pinon-pitch.  It is signed on the shoulder in the clay, “LRG”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.