Santa Clara Pueblo Black Carved & Micaceous Jar [SOLD]

Linda Tafoya Sanchez is known to some collectors by a previous married name Linda Tafoya Oyenque.  She is a daughter of Lee and Betty Tafoya and a granddaughter of Margaret Tafoya.  She credits her aunt Mary Ester Archuleta for training her to be a potter.

Linda has branched out from creating traditional burnished blackware with simple carved designs to express her creative talent in design.  She mixes burnished black with matte black and has introduced use of micaceous clay in the design.

In this exquisite jar, Tafoya-Sanchez presents a highly burnished Avanyu encircling the jar and it is embellished with many swirls and curves, each exquisitely executed.  The carving around the Avanyu is deep and cleanly presented.  The upper and lower outlines of the Avanyu are slipped with micaceous clay.

The combination of a perfectly formed jar, flawless burnishing, exquisite design concept and execution, and the use of mica in the design present a beautiful end product.  Tafoya-Sanchez is to be commended for her beautiful pottery.

Condition: new condition

Provenance: from the potter through an intermediary

Recommended Reading:  Born of Fire: The Pottery of Margaret Tafoya by Charles King