This is a classic carved bowl by Margaret Tafoya. It is from the 1960s.  The bowl is coil-built and round in shape.  The design is a deeply carved avanyu.  The avanyu encircles the bowl with cloud and rain designs as part of the body. The eye and mouth are painted buff-on-red.  It is one of her few red pieces from the time. Margaret made fewer red pieces than black, as they are always more difficult to polish and fire.  The coloration on this bowl is striking!   It was fired a deep red coloration.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret”.  It’s a creative piece reflecting one of her most creative periods.

“The water serpent, we were told, it represents life. It represents the water, which is important to life, to people, plants, and animals. The water design is very important to put on pots to honor that serpent. We used to ask, “What is the water serpent?” We were told the water serpent is in the rivers, the big rivers. At one time, when my mother was young, there were no bridges to cross over the Rio Grande. They were always told that if you see a water serpent, your life is going to be long. She did see one laying on the rock. She said it was huge, snakelike, and she said she just stared at it and couldn’t holler for anyone else to see. If you look at the serpent design, it has all the weather designs. The lightning on the tongue of the serpent, and there are mountain designs and rain designs and all the weather elements. .”  Toni Roller, Spoken Through Clay