Melchor, Santana -Water Jar with Plant and Checkerboard Designs (1960s)

Santana Melchor was one of the great potters from Santo Domingo throughout the 1900s. This water jar is a classic shape with a round shoulder and a slightly turned rim.  The surface of the jar is polished white clay and then painted with mineral slips.  The neck of the jar has lines representing rain.  The neck of the jar has alternating plant and checkerboard designs.  Below the shoulder, the same plant and checkerboard designs are repeated.  The rim has the classic Santo Domingo “spirit line” where there is a space in the painting.  The interior of the neck is slipped with red clay that is stone polished.  What you can’t feel is the surface, which is burnished, has a smoother-than-expected feel, and the black a deeper appearance. It is signed on the bottom, “Santana Melchor”.  The jar is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Did you know she was present in the 1974 delegation of Pueblo potters who visited the White House as a guest of first lady Pat Nixon (see last photo).

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Melchor, Santana (1889-1978)

Santana Melchor was a daughter of Maria Garcia and the mother noted potter Crucita Melchor and Dolorita Melchor. She learned to make pottery from her mother, Maria Garcia. Throughout most of the 1900's she was one of the most influential Santo Domingo potters.   In 1974 she was part of the delegation of Pueblo potters who visited the White House as a guest of first lady Pat Nixon.