Isleta Pueblo Twelve Piece Pottery Nacimiento [SOLD]

Isleta Pueblo is thirteen miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is home to a Tiwa-speaking people.  Early Isleta pottery was not decorated.  It was a beautiful golden orange with a darker orange slip wiped on in a narrow band.   Isleta potters started to decorate their pottery in the late 1800s after the arrival of a group of immigrants from Laguna Pueblo, who had left their home pueblo after a major disagreement among the residents.  The new residents settled in a small village at the edge of Isleta and eventually became Isleta people.  These newcomers brought with them their traditional Laguna style polychrome pottery.  They instructed the potters of Isleta how to use their style and designs and, eventually, all Isleta pottery became similar to that from Laguna.

Today, several families are making pottery, but the Teller family is distinctive because of its use of grey, buff and white slips.  This style was developed by Stella Teller, the matriarch of the family.  She had begun making pottery in the early 1960s and eventually became well known for her use of the color grey and adding turquoise hieshe necklaces to the figures whether it be human or animal.  Stella also polishes the white slip on her animal figures.  Several members of her family make nacimientos, but none are as collectable as those made by Stella which can command high prices. Stella also makes sets in polychrome, the colors being beige, yellow, brown and white.

This nacimiento consists of twelve individual pieces.  There is the three-piece Holy Family—Jesús, Mary and Joseph.  Baby Jesús is wrapped in a blanket which is resting on a log.  Mary is kneeling and wears a finely decorated blanket, a turquoise necklace, traditional pueblo moccasins, and has her hair tied in a chonga in the back.  Joseph is standing, wrapped in a blanket which is secured by his hands, wears traditional moccasins and has his hair tied in a chonga in back.  The Three Kings are dressed in traditional pueblo clothing.  One is wrapped in a blanket and carries a small blanket as a gift for the baby.  Another King has a blanket draped over his shoulder and is holding four ears of corn as gifts for the baby.  The third King is wrapped in a blanket and is holding a pair of traditional pueblo moccasins as a gift for the baby.

The animals include a donkey with his eyes wide open, a cow with his eyes closed tightly, a mountain sheep with beautiful curved horns, a sheep lying down, a lamb with his head slightly turned, and, unique to nacimientos by Stella Teller, a full-grown pig.  No other potter includes a pig in her sets.

Condition: the set is new, having just been made by the potter

Provenance: this Isleta Pueblo Twelve Piece Pottery Nacimiento is directly from the artist

Recommended Reading:  Nacimientos - Nativity Scenes by Southwest Indian Artisans by Guy and Doris Monthan