Isleta Pueblo Flight to Egypt Figurines [SOLD]

Stella Teller has a long career of making pottery figurines and has consistently won prizes for them since she made her first storyteller figurine in 1978, the same year Adobe Gallery opened its doors in Old Town Albuquerque. Her great-grandmother, Marcellina Jojola, her grandmother, Emeklia Lente Carpio, and her mother, Felicita Jojola, all were potters.  Teller began working in clay at the age of eight, helping her mother slip and polish small pots. She is now a fulltime potter creating figurines and pottery in her studio at Isleta Pueblo.

Her pottery is distinguished from traditional Isleta Polychrome wares by its distinctive colors, which she says are all natural.  The light gray, which has become her trademark, is produced by mixing white clay with manganese.  She was one of the first potters to insert turquoise cabs into the clay.  Generally, her figures wear turquoise necklaces.

This 2-piece pottery set features the Flight to Egypt.  Mary, holding Baby Jesus, is sitting on the donkey and Joseph holds the reins and leads the donkey.  The tan color seen on faces and hands is left in a matte state, the white slip is stone polished and the grey remains in a matte finish.

Condition: structurally in original condition.

Provenance:  This nacimiento was made around 1995 and purchased by a resident of Albuquerque from whose estate we just acquired it.

Recommended Reading:  Nacimientos by Guy and Doris Monthan