This is an iconic carved jar by Teresita Naranjo.  Teresita was a daughter of Christina Naranjo and know for her deeply carved pottery.   Each piece was coil built, carved, stone polished, and traditionally fired.  This jar is a taller shape with a slight shoulder.  The jar is fully carved around the center with swirling clouds, lighting, and rain designs.  Each cloud connects to the next creating a unique design that changes as the jar is turned.  It is fascinating how she combines angular and rounded designs to flow between one another.  Note the depth of the carving, as it creates shadows and it the apex of her technical design.  Teresita was one of the first potters to create negative space carving on Pueblo pottery.  The jar is from the 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