Cochiti Pueblo Seated Female Storyteller with Tableta and Child [SOLD]

This seated female storyteller figurine with her eyes closed and her mouth open is beautifully dressed in a decorated blouse over which she wears the traditional pueblo dress.  She has a tableta on her head and is wearing high-top moccasins.  Her dress is covered at the waist with a belt.  I believe that Louis Naranjo (1932-1997) was the first potter to place a tableta on his female figures.

The infant in the adult’s lap is dressed in a decorated blouse or shirt and wrapped in a striped blanket.  This storyteller figurine is the smallest I recall seeing from Louis Naranjo. According to the owner, it was purchased probably in the late 1980s.

Condition: this Cochiti Pueblo Seated Female Storyteller with Tableta and Child is in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a client from Albuquerque who provided us with over 100 storyteller figurines two years ago for an exhibit.

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

Photo of Louis and Virginia Naranjo courtesy of Gregory Schaaf.