Cochiti Pueblo Small Turtle Pottery Figurine with Child on Shell by Antonita Cordero Suina [SOLD]

This Cochiti Pueblo pottery figurine by Antonita Cordero Suina, daughter of Helen Cordero, is a version of the Cochiti Pueblo legend of Mother Turtle.  The legend states that in time of disaster, Mother Turtle will come to the pueblo and rescue the children. Here, a single child is riding on the back of the turtle to safety.

Following the creation of the Cochiti Pueblo Storyteller figurine by Helen Cordero in 1964, her entire family joined in the process within a few years.  By the late 1970s, Helen's son, George Cordero; her daughter, Antonita (Tony) Cordero; her grandchildren, Tim Cordero (who lived in Tuba City and spent the summers at Cochiti with his grandmother), Kevin Peshlakai and Buffy Cordero; her son-in-law Del Trancosa from San Felipe, and her foster daughters-in-law, Kathy Trujillo and Mary Trujillo all were making storyteller figurines.

Antonita Cordero married Del Trancosa and reportedly lives at San Felipe Pueblo.  I do not know if she is still actively making pottery. This "Mother Turtle" figurine was probably made in the 1980s.

Condition: this Cochiti Pueblo Small Turtle Pottery Figurine with Child on Shell by Antonita Cordero Suina is in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of an Albuquerque resident

Recommended Reading: The Pueblo Storyteller by Barbara Babcock