Large Carved Black Jar with Avanyu by Christina Naranjo [SOLD]

What a beautiful example of a contemporary blackware storage jar. The hemispherical shape provides a feeling of massiveness while the carved design reduces it to pleasant proportions. The potter was adept at achieving balance of this nature.

Christina Naranjo was the daughter of Sarafina & Geronimo Tafoya, and the sister to Margaret and Camilio Tafoya, all of whom were outstanding potters who were not timid about making very large vessels. Many potters shy away from larger pieces. Not only are they difficult to form, the stone polishing of the slip must not be interrupted until the entire vessel is completed—a task that may include several members of a family taking turns. Additionally, large vessels are more apt to contain air bubbles in the clay, resulting in an explosion during firing.

The burnishing of the slip on this jar was so well accomplished that there are no visible polishing marks from the motion of the stone. The only problem is that the fire must have been hotter on one side as there are very small blisters on one side where it is evident that the jar was overheated. The area is confined to one part of the vessel and is not viewable when looking at the jar from the side where the head of the Avanyu is seen.

COMMENTS: Some experts have contended that smothering pottery during the firing process creates a carbon smoke that penetrates the pottery, turning it black. Even though several books describing black pueblo pottery attribute the color change to carbon, the reduction of iron oxide is the correct mechanism. Ceramicists, describing ancient styles of Old World pottery, state that iron impurities in clay form red oxide at red heat, but if air is lacking during firing, iron impurities in clay form black magnetite.