Modern Sgraffito Seed Pot with Plants and Animals [SOLD]

This redware seed pot was created by Camilio Sunflower Tafoya of Santa Clara Pueblo. It dates to 1981, and it is in excellent condition. Studying Tafoya's sgraffito seed pots is a pleasure, as each offers a unique and lively scene.

With this piece, Tafoya offered an intricately carved depiction of a group of chipmunks hunting for and feasting on acorns. A vertical band of leaves and acorns crosses over the top of the pot, with additional branches emerging horizontally from the primary band. The animals rest on the ground and hang from the branches, foraging and nourishing themselves. The slip's red tone and the clay's tan color are augmented with a green tone.

The bottom of the pot is signed, dated, and numbered Camilio Sunflower Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo, 1981, A11C4.

Santa Clara Pueblo artist Camilio Sunflower Tafoya (1902-1995) made traditional black carved pottery in the mid-twentieth century. After his son Joseph Lonewolf popularized the intricate sgraffito carving style, Camilio picked it up too. Camilio also made tall pottery jars. Initially, he and his daughter Grace Medicine Flower worked together and co-signed pieces. Later, he worked alone. Camilio was the son of Sara Fina and Geronimo Tafoya, and brother of Margaret Tafoya, which places him within one of the most significant families in the world of Native art.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Modern Sgraffito Seed Pot with Plants and Animals is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

TAGS: Santa Clara Pueblo, Sara Fina Tafoya, Margaret Tafoya, Joseph Lonewolf, Grace Medicine Flower, Camilio Sunflower Tafoya