Legoria Tafoya Legoria was a sister of painter Pablita Velarde. She was the mother of noted potter Celes Tafoya. This is one of the largest pieces of hers we have had in the gallery.  It is a small storage jar that is coil-built and fully stone polished.  What is hard to see in the photo is that there is a sharp edge to the jar just above the ends of the bear paws.  The jar has three deeply impressed bear paws as the design.  They were impressed or cut into the clay before it was polished.  Did you know that at Santa Clara, each potter had a distinctive shape to the bear paws used on their pottery?   Note how Legoria’s has the toes spread wide.  The jar was polished to a high shine and fired a deep black coloration.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, Legoria”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.