Polychrome Owl Storyteller circa 1990s by Inez Ortiz [SOLD]

This storyteller depicts an elder owl imparting oral traditions, language, and cultural stories to three attentive owl youths. Cochiti Pueblo (Ko'tyit) storytellers traditionally position the elder as the central figure surrounded by listeners to represent the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Because their native language, Keres, is unwritten, storytelling remains the vital link for preserving these traditions. Reflecting the influence of her mother, Seferina, Ortiz incorporates distinctive, repetitive black lines throughout the design to represent feathers. Each line has the cream slip and dark black pigment that is so traditional to Cochiti pottery forms. Light color pigment on the beaks add a sense of depth to the three dimensional figurine.

Holding their wings close to their eyes, the young owls appear deeply engrossed in the story. Covering one's eyes while listening, a form of body language known as eye-blocking, is a natural response when processing intense narrative stimuli, seeking protection, or trying to focus. The elder owl is stoic and sure of her storytelling abilities as she holds tightly to the owl children.

A Deeper Look at Inez Ortiz:

It is traditional for Pueblo potters to teach their children the art of pottery making starting at an early age. Cochiti Pueblo (Ko'tyit) artist Juanita Inez Ortiz (1960-2008) Mapuwana ("Wild Rose") learned pottery making from her mother, Seferina Ortiz, and her grandmother, Laurencita Herrera. Inez's siblings, all of whom are potters, are Virgil, Joyce, and Janice (mother of Lisa Holt). She remained with traditional designs and shapes much like her mother and unlike that of Virgil and Lisa.

Inspired by her brother Virgil's artistic practice, Ortiz helped revive classic late 19th- and early 20th-century Cochiti human and animal forms, known as monos. She adhered strictly to traditional pottery techniques: hand-coiling her pieces, applying natural clay slips, and detailing her designs with a dark black pigment derived from wild spinach (guaco). This figurine is signed on the bottom I. Ortiz Cochiti, NM.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Polychrome Owl Storyteller circa 1990s by Inez Ortiz is from a client of Adobe Gallery.

Reference and Recommended Reading: 

• Pottery of the Southwest by Allan and Carol Hayes 

• Clay Mirror, From Monos to Storytellers: Reflections from Cochiti Pueblo by Tom & Charlotte Mittler

TAGS: Cochiti Pueblo, pottery making, Seferina Ortiz, Laurencita Herrera, Virgil Ortiz, Lisa Holt, Juanita Inez Ortiz