Mary Frances Herrera Female Storyteller with 4 Children

This figurine is an enlarged version of the miniature ones that Mary Frances Herrera is well known for. The face of the adult is exactly like those of the miniature storytellers.

When we organized our first Storyteller exhibit at Adobe Gallery in Albuquerque in 1979, we identified only five potters making these figurines — Helen Cordero, Dorothy Trujillo, Frances Herrera, Seferina Ortiz, and Rita Lewis. 

At that time, we were purchasing miniature figurines from Herrera, and not aware that previously she had made larger versions. Apparently, her larger versions were earlier than the miniature ones we were purchasing.

It is a pleasure to now have one of her earlier larger storyteller figurines. It is a female figurine, featuring the seated adult wearing a traditional pueblo dress. Her hair is tied up in a chonga in the back and she is wearing traditional pueblo moccasins.

Seated on her legs are two children — both dressed as boys — both of them hanging on to the mother's arm. Two other children rest on her shoulders — one eating a slice of watermelon. The figurine is signed M. F. Herera, Cochiti.

Condition: The storyteller figurine is in original excellent condition.

Provenance: this Mary Frances Herrera Female Storyteller with 4 Children is from the collection of a client from California

Recommended Reading: Clay Mirror - From Monos to Storytellers: Reflections from Cochiti Pueblo. The Tom & Charlotte Mittler Collection

TAGS: Helen Cordero, Dorothy Trujillo, Seferina Ortiz, Rita Lewis, Laurencita R. Herrera, Cochiti Pueblo, Pottery Figurines, Mary Frances Herrera