Diego Romero was one of the potters around 1990 to break away from more classic shapes and styles of pottery. He returned to a pre-contact style of Mimbres culture (1100’s in southwest New Mexico) and was inspired by the open bowl shape. This has been his “canvas” throughout most of his career. This piece is entitled “Incident at Cochiti Lake”.  It is a very complex design with five figures.  The Chongo Brothers are at Cochiti Lake and about to get into trouble by the muscular guy coming up behind them while they are chatting with the women in the swimsuits.  Diego made a series of pieces in a similar style, of which many were based on a “Charles Atlas” inspired imagery.  Surrounding the central design are water waves.  The outside of the bowl is slipped red and fully polished.  It is signed on the rim, “Chongo Made and Painted Me”.  The bowl is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. It does have an interesting provenance that it was purchased from Diego in 2000 at Santa Fe Indian Market and was the only piece he had there that year!  We had a museum mount stand made for it, as can be seen in the photos.

Diego is currently the subject of a major exhibition of his work at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture in Santa Fe, NM.  Click here to see more about the exhibit.