Garrett Maho is known for his traditional and innovative Hopi-Tewa pottery.  This bowl has four birds in a swirling or tumbling motion around the top of the piece.  They are painted with a deep red clay slip as well as the black which is painted with bee-weed (a plant).  The bowl has been traditionally fired so that there are blushes on the surface.  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay.

Dusty Naranjo is known for her delicately etched pottery which is fired brown.  This jar has an asymmetric form and it is fully polished. The top has classic Santa Clara designs and the sides are are fully etched with lines and hands.  Note the precision of the lines, which is always amazing to see when they are etched into a polished and rounded surface!  The shape, color and design give the jar a very modern appearance.  It is signed on the bottom, “Dusty”.

Dominique Toya is known for her intricately carved pottery with sharp ridged melon swirls.  She has created her distinctive style of pottery using native clay and micaceous clay slips for the surface.  This seedpot has 8 deeply carved ribs, each with a sharp edge. The seedpot has a small opening at the top.  After it is carved it is then slipped with an additional mica clay to create the striking coloration.  Looking down from the top it is possible to see how perfectly the ribs spiral out from the opening!  Dominique has won numerous awards for her pottery and continues to be one of the leading Jemez potters working today!

Garrett Maho is known for his traditional and innovative Hopi-Tewa pottery.  This bowl has an unusual raven design.  There are two of the birds and they are painted on both sides of the piece. The deep red is an additional clay slip while the black is painted with bee-weed (a plant).  The bowl has been traditionally fired so that there are blushes on the surface.  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay.

Irene Tse-Pe is a daughter of Dora Tse-Pe and Tse-Pe Gonzales and a granddaughter of Rose Gonzales.  This jar is coil built and carved with cloud pattern around the neck. The carving is in the cameo style made famous by Rose. The jar is slipped with mica to the surface which gives it a bit of a sparkle in the light!  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Irene Tse-Pe”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  While Irene no longer makes pottery, it is certainly a striking piece of her creative pottery!

Dominique Toya is known for her intricately carved pottery with sharp ridged melon swirls.  She has created her distinctive style of pottery using native clay and micaceous clay slips for the surface.  This is one of her miniatures which has been fired black.  The seedpot has a triangular opening and there are alternating polished and micaceous clay swirls. The micaceous sections are carved into the clay and slipped with mica and when fired have almost a silvery metallic appearance. The polished sections are flatter.  Dominique has won numerous awards for her pottery and continues to be one of the leading Jemez potters working today!

Spoken Through Clay

A NEW  RELEASE SPECIAL:  $95.00, including shipping (US)! Check out the new review in the Denver Post!

 Just a few things which make this book unique!

*   The size!  The book is 11.75″ x 14.25″ and weights over 8 pounds!
*  The photography of the pottery is stunning, emphasizing the individual pieces.
*  Each caption is the artist discussing the individual piece on the page.
*  The artist “biographies” are from interviews with the artists and they discuss their art, culture, lives and history.
*  Organization: The book is not organized by pueblo or family, but entails new ways to think about the future of Native pottery.
*  Printing in Italy gives the book very high quality color and paper.
* The photos of the living artists were taken by Will Wilson using a tin-type process. He was a recipient of the 2107 New Mexico Governor’s Award for the Arts in photography!
*  The book features work by more than 30 contemporary potters and more than a dozen important historic potters.
*  There are essays by myself, Peter Held and Eric Dobkin.  They add to the overall understanding of the project a historic perspective.

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August 18, Pasatiempo Review

“Charles S. King’s new book, Spoken Through Clay: Native Pottery in the Southwest, The Eric S. Dobkin Collection, is spectacularly heavy —which is a problem from a practical standpoint, because once you open it, you won’t want to put it down. With dreamy tintype artist portraits by Diné photographer Will Wilson, dazzlingly crisp images from Addison Doty, and intimate first-person essays written by dozens of artists, the book is a visually delicious, intellectually consuming foray into historic and contemporary Southwestern pottery. In short, prepare to swoon.

“It’s one of the things that makes us who we are. It’s what holds our family together. We are a family of potters. It’s our identity. People don’t realize how much work goes into it just processing the clay and making it. You have to do it with your heart.”—Linda Tafoya-Sanchez

FEATURED ARTISTS Grace Medicine Flower • Dextra Quotskuyva • Autumn Borts-Medlock • Jody Naranjo • Harrison Begay Jr. • Jordan Roller • Sara Fina Tafoya • Lonnie Vigil • Margaret Tafoya • Steve Lucas • LuAnn Tafoya • Loren Ami • Toni Roller • Popovi Da • Linda Tafoya-Sanchez • Mark Tahbo • James Ebelacker• Yvonne Lucas • Jeff Roller • Lisa Holt • Harlan Reano • Nampeyo • Jacquie Stevens • Nathan Youngblood • Jacob Koopee Jr. • Jennifer Moquino • Christopher Youngblood • Maria Martinez • Tony Da • Tammy Garcia • Virgil Ortiz • Joseph Lonewolf • Johnathan Naranjo • Nancy Youngblood • Les Namingha • Russell Sanchez • Christine McHorse • Richard Zane Smith • Rondina Huma • Susan Folwell • Dominique Toya • Jody Folwell

Spoken Through Clay features the pottery of iconic Native American artists from historic potters Nampeyo and Maria Martinez, to contemporary potters Tammy Garcia, Virgil Ortiz, and many others, are featured in a new book published by the Museum of New Mexico Press. Spoken Through Clay: Native Pottery of the Southwest showcases nearly three hundred pottery vessels from the acclaimed Eric S. Dobkin Collection, covering a wide range of mostly Pueblo artists from the Southwest.

“The physical scale of the vessels combined with the depth of the contemporary collection [is] breathtaking,” says author Charles S. King. The book is part of a “transitional process of looking to the clay, the vessel, and the potter’s voice and allowing the pieces to stand on the merit of their artistic integrity.”

The book includes portraits and voices of renowned potters speaking about their artistry and technique, families, culture, and traditions. Many of the artists are connected by Pueblos, generations, or family members. Dynamic color photography captures the depth and dimension of the pieces, while the artists provide an illuminating perspective through narrative captions. Artists, academics, collectors, family members, and gallerists add additional insight about the lives, historical context, and importance of these potters and their work.

SPOKEN THROUGH CLAY Native Pottery of the Southwest The Eric S. Dobkin Collection
By Charles S. King Essay by Peter Held

Artist portraits by Will Wilson
ISBN: 978-0-89013-624-9

352 pages, 320 color plates, 40 artist portraits

Publication Date: August 01, 2017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Charles S. King is the author of Born of Fire: The Life and Pottery of Margaret Tafoya, The Life and Art of Tony Da, Virgil Ortiz: Revolt 1680/2180, and numerous articles on Pueblo pottery. He has served on boards of art associations, judged pottery at prestigious events, and lectures about the art form. His business King Galleries represents many of today’s leading Native potters and important historic works in clay. Charles lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Bernice Naranjo is known for her innovative incised pottery.  This seedpot is fully polished and fired brown.  She has etched a series of lizards on the surface of the piece. Some are placed sitting on the red polished clay and others on fine-line etched sections reminiscent of the sand or pottery shards.  The piece is signed on the bottom.

Elijah Naranjo learned to make pottery from his mother Dolly Naranjo and sister Jody Naranjo.  He works in a similar style with the sgraffito designs and brown firing. This small seedpot has a Mimbres style lizard on the top.  It is fully polished and there are additional feather designs in the clay. The seedpot is from 2000.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.

This larger plate by Cavan Gonzales is a beautiful example of both his clay and painting skill.  As a form, many Pueblo potters dislike to create plates, as they break frequently while drying and firing.  Cavan is one of the few who has been making this form most of his career.  This plate is polychrome with a butterfly painted in the center.  There is a checkerboard pattern around the rim of the piece.  Note as well there is a single inset piece of turquoise for the head of the butterfly.  The back of the plate is slipped red and signed by Cavan.