Black Pottery Bear Paw Jar from Santa Clara Pueblo

Angela T. Baca, at age 86, passed away on February 16, 2014. Her mother was Severa Tafoya, her brother was Teofilo Tafoya and her sisters were Mela Nichols, Lydia Garcia, Mary Agnes Tafoya, Tonita Tafoya, and Rosita Tafoya Dasheno.

Angela might be considered the Matriarch of the first family of Santa Clara melon potters. She was a melon pot specialist who made various sizes in both red and black and she made the same shape jars but with bear paws instead of melon ribs. She undoubtedly had one of the longest potting careers in Santa Clara Pueblo. Her pottery is in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution, The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and other numerous museums and galleries.

This jar has three bear paw indentations around the mid-body. It is signed Angela Baca Santa Clara on the underside.

Condition: very good condition with one scratch near the upper end of one of the bear paw impressions.

Recommended Reading:  Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Provenance: from a family from Santa Fe who is beginning to downsize its very large collection of pottery and paintings by New Mexico Native artists.