Linda Tafoya-Sanchez is a granddaughter of noted potter Margaret Tafoya and a daughter of Lee & Betty Tafoya.  She is known for her intricately carved pottery.  This bowl is coil-built, carved, polished, and traditionally fired.  The bowl has five hummingbirds, each carved in a different manner of flying.  They are each polished a deep red.  Some have incised feathers, and others are plain.  The remainder of the bowl is tan and slipped with mica.  The mica creates a striking visual contrast with the deep red of the birds.  The piece was traditionally fired.  The bowl is signed on the bottom, “Linda Tafoya-Oyenque”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

“The clay is a really important part of making the pottery. Listening to family members talk about how they used to get clay with Grandma and Grandpa [Margaret & Alcario Tafoya] and how they would make it an all-day venture. You feel that family connection when you are digging the clay out of the earth. It ties you to your home. There’s no other place you are going to find that kind of clay. You think about how many years people have dug that clay out of the earth, how many years Mother Earth has provided that clay for us.”  Linda Tafoya-Sanchez, Spoken Through Clay