Virginia Naranjo Black Bear Storyteller Figurine [SOLD]

The subject of this Mother Bear storyteller, seated with an attentive cub reclined across her lap, follows the human storyteller legend in that the mother is verbally teaching her cub the life lessons it should expect. Both figures feature open mouths, characteristic of traditional storyteller figures imparting songs or oral histories.

The figurine follows traditional Cochiti Pueblo pottery construction techniques in forming and painting. The expressive, tilted head of the main bear and the playful placement of the cub with its paws raised capture the warmth and humor characteristic of mid-to-late 20th-century Cochiti figurative clay traditions.

The base shows the signature Virginia Naranjo Cochiti NM, executed in black paint over a natural red-orange clay slip patch. She often collaborated with her husband, Louis Naranjo, though pieces signed solely by Virginia represent her individual hand in modeling and painting.

Cochiti Pueblo artist Virginia Naranjo (1932-2014) was known for polychrome jars, bowls, Storytellers, Nativities, wall plaques and animal figurines. Virginia was the granddaughter of Juanita Romero; daughter of Salvador and Evaline Arquero; niece of Juanita Arquero; daughter-in-law of Frances Naranjo Suina; wife of Louis Naranjo; and mother of Mary Edna Trujillo and Pauline Naranjo. 

After Virginia suffered a stroke, she started collaborating with her husband Louis, which lasted until his death in 1997. Louis and Virginia Naranjo were standard-bearers for the proud figurative pottery tradition of Cochiti Pueblo. They crafted their figurines at their kitchen table in their comfortable adobe home at the pueblo. They worked almost every day crafting their art with great care, joking and exchanging the gossip of the day as they went along, accompanied by television, children, and grandchildren. Their art provided a good life for them and it provided a legacy that will be with us for another century or more.

Condition: good condition 

Provenance: this Virginia Naranjo Black Bear Storyteller Figurine is from the collection of a client from California     

Recommended Reading: PUEBLO STORIES and STORYTELLERS by Mark Bahti

TAGS: Cochiti Pueblo, figurines, Juanita Arquero, Louis Naranjo, Pauline Naranjo, Louis and Virginia Naranjo, Virginia Naranjo