Tafoya, Kelli Little Katchina – Large Seedpot with Sun and Avanyu (1980s)

4.5"w x 3.5"h

$ 350.00

This is a very intricately carved seedpot by Kelli Little Katchina Tafoya.  She was a daughter of Lucy Year Flower, a granddaughter of Camilio Tafoya and a niece of Joseph Lonewolf and Grace Medicine Flower.  She began making pottery in the 1970s and focused mostly on miniatures.  This seedpot is very deeply carved with a water serpent (avanyu) encircling the piece.  The top has a sunface design.  Note in the background areas where it is matte, she has also carved it into a linear texture.  The use of the sun and the avanyu on her pottery (and that of her family) harkens to the classic style avanyu used by Camilio Tafoya in his pottery (see last photo) which combines the sunface and the avanyu.  The piece is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Kelli Little Katchina”.