Cochiti Pueblo Pottery Mountain Sheep or Ram [SOLD]

Animal dances at the pueblos are a plea for rain and for bountiful crops as well as an abundance of animals for food. Generally, buffalo, deer, antelope, and rams are portrayed together at a dance in the plaza.  It is one of the most often seen dances in the fall and winter, performed in preparation for the hunting season.

Louis Naranjo (1932-1997) was an avid hunter so perhaps that is why he made animal figurines.  He often made foxes, bears, antelope, and rams.  This adult ram has a youngster on its back, getting a free ride.  It is signed under the front foot with the artist’s initials LN.  It was made in the 1980s.

Condition: this Cochiti Pueblo Pottery Mountain Sheep or Ram is in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from New Mexico

Recommended Reading:  There is an excellent article on Louis and Virginia Naranjo in “Indians of New Mexico,” edited by Richard C. Sandoval and Ree Sheck. Published by New Mexico Magazine, Santa Fe, 1990. ISBN 0-937206-16-4. It may be available from the publisher.