Cochiti Pueblo Mother Turtle with a Boy Drummer by George Cordero [SOLD]

C4565C-turtle.jpg

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George Cordero, Cochiti Pueblo Potter
  • Category: Figurines
  • Origin: Cochiti Pueblo, KO-TYIT
  • Medium: clay, pigment, drumstick
  • Size:
    5” height x 7” length x 4-¾” width
  • Item # C4565C
  • SOLD

Artist Signature of George Cordero, Cochiti Pueblo PotterThis charming rendition of a Cochiti Pueblo storyteller Mother Turtle turtle by George Cordero features a young boy riding the turtle while he bangs on his drum.  The signature on the underside reads Geo Cordero Help by Helen Cordero Cochiti N.Mex.  This is a piece by George when his mother was helping him with his figurines, so this is a joint effort by Helen and George Cordero.  George only made figurines for the last eight years of his life.  Previously he had made bowls and jars.  His mother was responsible for getting him to make figurines.

The turtle has its mouth and eyes open and is decorated with step designs on its neck and a saddle blanket on its back.  The young boy is seated with a drum in his lap and a drumstick in his raised arm.

Helen Cordero, who taught her son George Cordero (1944-1990) to make pottery figurines, once said that the turtle figurine represented a Cochiti legend, " …. that in time of peril, Mother Turtle would come to the pueblo and rescue the children and take them to safety."  Helen made these figurines in her productive lifetime, and so did George.

Helen often collaborated with her children in making pottery, so much so that it is often difficult to determine if it is her work or that of her child. Looking at this figurine would lead one to think Helen contributed a significant amount to the completion of it.


Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Cochiti Pueblo Mother Turtle with a Boy Drummer by George Cordero is from the collection of a family from New Mexico

Recommended Reading: The Pueblo Storyteller: Development of a Figurative Ceramic Tradition by Barbara Babcock Ph.D.

Relative Links: storyteller figurinepotteryCochiti PuebloAntonita "Toni" SuinaBuffy CorderoTim CorderoEvon TrujilloHelen Cordero, George Cordero

Close up view.


George Cordero, Cochiti Pueblo Potter
  • Category: Figurines
  • Origin: Cochiti Pueblo, KO-TYIT
  • Medium: clay, pigment, drumstick
  • Size:
    5” height x 7” length x 4-¾” width
  • Item # C4565C
  • SOLD

C4565C-turtle.jpgC4565C-large.jpg Click on image to view larger.