This is an iconic carved bowl by Teresita Naranjo.  Teresita was a daughter of Christina Naranjo and was known for her deeply carved pottery.   Each piece was coil-built, carved, stone polished, and traditionally fired.  This bowl is round in shape, and the entire exterior is fully carved.  There are swirling clouds and angular mountains.  The designs flow and swirl as the bowl is turned. Most importantly, note the depth of the carving, as it creates shadows, which were created at the apex of her technical design.  Teresita was one of the first potters to create negative space carving on Pueblo pottery.  The bowl is from the late 1970s.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repairs.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Teresita Naranjo”.  It is easy to see how her great-niece Tammy Garcia was inspired by this work of her great-aunt!

“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