WOW!  This is an exceptional large painted open bowl by Teresita Naranjo.  While she was known for her carved pottery, in the 1950s she also created a series of polychrome painted pieces. The bowl has twisted handles and it is fully polished.  It is painted using four different colors of clay.  The painting style is the classic Santa Clara two-dimensional style.  The piece has a deer and a fawn, with a coyote off to the side. There are cactus and flowers along with rain clouds in the sky and a moon painted on the left side handle.  The bluish coloration is fascinating, as it looks to be a combination of several clays she has mixed together.  The piece was traditionally fired which created some of the color variations in the red.  It is an exceptional piece not just in size, but the complexity of the design and the historic significance of her painted work in contrast to the carved pottery.  The scene and figures create are complex in style and coloration.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repairs.  It is signed on the back in the clay, “Teresita Naranjo”.  Definitely a classic of her pottery art!

“Some of my pieces of pottery are polished inside as well as outside. When we do wrong, we are like my pieces of pottery that I leave rough inside. Even if we polish ourselves outside, we stay rough inside. All my pottery is fired in an open fire, which determines the color. I really do enjoy making pottery, for I know God has given me this talent and the patience to do it.”  —Teresita Naranjo, Spoken Through Clay