This is a classic carved bowl by Margaret Tafoya. It is from the 1950s.  The bowl is coil-built and carved on the outside and fully polished on the inside. The outside of the bowl has a carved avanyu (water serpent).  It is unusual to find her work polished on the inside and carved on the outside. The bowl was fired a deep red coloration.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Margaret Tafoya”.  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

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Tafoya, Margaret (1904-2001)

Margaret Tafoya

Margaret Tafoya is a daughter of noted potter Sara Fina Tafoya and a sister of Christina Naranjo and Camilio Tafoya.  She is the matriarch of a family of renowned potters, each of whom created their distinctive styles.  Margaret Tafoya had twelve children, eight of whom became potters.  They include Virginia Ebelacker, Lee Tafoya, Toni Roller, LuAnn Tafoya, Mela Youngblood, Jennie Trammel, Mary Ester Archuleta, and Shirley Tafoya.  Her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren carry on the pottery-making tradition today. Margaret Tafoya was a guardian of traditional pottery-making methods and techniques.  She created large vessels with stone polished surfaces.  Her carving was done before the piece was polished.  She produced her work from the 1920s through the 1980s.  Margaret Tafoya won numerous awards throughout her career, including Best of Show at Santa Fe Indian Market in 1979 and 1980.  She was also awarded the Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1984.

The book, "Born of Fire," follows her life and art over many decades.  It is also the only book to identify her pottery by the decade produced using the variations in her signature.  This book is the first complete biography of Margaret Tafoya's life.  It is divided into decades, giving the reader a deeper understanding of her life and pottery over nearly 100 years.  There are new biographies on Virginia Ebelacker, Richard Ebelacker, Lee Tafoya, Linda Tafoya, Jennie Trammel, Mela Youngblood, Nathan Youngblood, Nancy Youngblood, Toni Roller, Jeff Roller, LuAnn Tafoya, Daryl Whitegeese, Mary Ester Archuleta, and Shirley Tafoya.  The photography of the pottery in this book is exceptional.  Throughout the book, personal narratives by family members and family photographs create a wonderful sense of her humanity and artistic accomplishments.

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