This is an intricately designed new seedpot by Jennifer Tafoya.    She is known for her clay vessels and also her amazing animal figures and for this show, they are animals from the “Ice Age”!  This piece is fully polished and fully designed.  It has a square shape and it is fully polished. On the top are two “Bear Dogs”.  They are very detailed and check out the precision in the faces!  They are surrounded by traditional Santa Clara designs.  Jennifer continues to not just be creative in design, but in technique.  All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips.  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Jennifer Tafoya”.

“The bear dog, also called Amphicyon, shared features of bears (heavy-bodied, with feet planted flat on the ground) and dogs (relatively long legs and long snout), but they are neither bears (family Ursidae) nor dogs (family Canidae). They were not specifically in the bear’s or dog’s scientific families, but they are classified in the Caniformia, or “dog-like” suborder. Modern animals in the Caniformia suborder include wolves, foxes, dogs, bears, sea lions and weasels. This makes bear dogs something like cousins to their namesakes. Also, these bear dogs should not be confused with the modern dog breed, the Karelian bear dog.”