Santa Clara Pueblo Black Carved Pottery Bowl by Nathan Youngblood [SOLD]

Santa Clara Pueblo artist Nathan Youngblood is known for his creative pottery designs and technical precision.  His burnishing is very fine, and he finely sands the edges of his carved designs.  Like his grandmother, Margaret Tafoya, he believes in the importance of traditional firing one pot at a time, thus greatly diminishing the chance of damage to pottery that may have taken 300 to 400 hours of preparation.

An Asian client who saw this bowl recently said “it has an Asian look”!  We agree with her assessment. There is a stylized Avanyu water serpent in one section and Greek key elements on the opposing side.  Between these two are designs carved into the clay and presented in matte form that do have an Asian look. The bowl is traditional and innovative concurrently.  

Nathan Youngblood (b.1954) is an outstanding potter from a family of many outstanding potters.  He is the grandson of Margaret Tafoya and son of Mela Youngblood. His sister is Nancy Youngblood.  Youngblood is known for his creative designs and technical precision. His burnishing is very fine and he finely sands the edges of his carved designs. Like his grandmother, he believes in the importance of traditional firing one pot at a time, thus greatly diminishing the chance of damage to pottery that may have taken 300 to 400 hours of preparation.

Nathan Youngblood is also known for his contributions to public service.  He has sat on the Board of Directors of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe and volunteered his time at the annual Wheelwright auction.  He has also served on the boards for the Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial and the Southwestern Association on Indian Arts (SWAIA), the producer of Santa Fe Indian Market.  He has been a board member of the American Crafts Council in New York, on the advisory board for the Scottsdale Center for the Arts and the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe.  He has lectured at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Denver Museum of Natural History, and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe as well as numerous other venues.

Yet, he finds time to make exquisite pottery with creative designs.  This bowl is an excellent example of his creativity and exceptional workmanship.

Condition: this Santa Clara Pueblo Black Carved Pottery Bowl by Nathan Youngblood is in excellent original condition

Provenance: from a client who has found it necessary to downsize her pottery collection

Reference and Recommended Reading: image of Nathan Youngblood and wife Anne: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf.  Photo by Nancy Reyner.

Relative Links: Santa Clara Pueblo,Santa Fe, Pottery, Margaret Tafoya, Mela Youngblood, Nancy Youngblood, Nathan Youngblood