Redware Avanyu Plate with Turquoise [SOLD]

This redware plate was created by Dora Tse-Pé of San Ildefonso Pueblo. It is an inventively designed piece that will likely appeal to many. Its central design is a stylish Avanyu, which is carved in relief in a circle around the plate's center. The raised Avanyu is beautifully stone polished. A single, nearly triangular piece of turquoise is set within the clay, representing the serpent's eye.

The carved areas around the Avanyu have a matte finish. The rest of the plate—the rim and back—display sparkling mica, which adds an additional visual dimension to the plate. The textural variations align with slight shifts in color, and all the variations complement one another beautifully. This is a stylish piece from a significant San Ildefonso artist.

The back of the plate is signed Dora Tse-Pe of San Ildefonso.

Dora Tse-Pé (1939-2022) was born at Zia Pueblo, the daughter of Candelaria Gachupin and granddaughter of Rosalie Toribio, both of whom "taught her the sacred and spiritual significance of the clay, of Mother Earth, Father Sun, and of the life-giving water. Her mother and grandmother made sure she understood the importance of these forces in creating pottery. Like Rosalie Aguilar and Rose Gonzales, a generation before, Dora married into San Ildefonso. In 1961, she married Tse-Pé, a fine potter. His mother was Rose Gonzales, who also had married into San Ildefonso, but from San Juan Pueblo." [Schaaf 2000]

Condition: good condition, a few light abrasions

Provenance: this Redware Avanyu Plate with Turquoise is from a private collection

Reference: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf. 

TAGS: Popovi Da, Tony Da, Southwest Indian Pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Contemporary, Zia Pueblo