The Galisteo Basin was once home to the Tano Pueblo Indians who were the Southern Tewa.  Originally, the Tano lived in the area around Santa Fe. Around 1250 to 1325, they moved further away to the area of the Galisteo Basin, settling in the region at the base of La Bajada, the long descent just south of Santa Fe on Interstate 25.  Their new homeland was near Kewa and Cochiti Pueblos.

The Tano were producing the regular vegetal paint tradition until they switched to the glaze-paint tradition and it, then, became the design of choice.  The essential ingredient in glaze paint is lead and the Tano found a ready source of lead near Cerrillos, a short distance from Santa Fe.

The Tano glaze-paint was generally painted on a creamy yellow slip.  The glaze paint was not stable and often ran when applied to the surface.  It did produce a beautiful shiny black finish which was probably its admirable trait. 

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Abel Sanchez was known as Oqwa Pi in the Tewa language.  He was the grandfather of San Ildefonso potter Russell Sanchez. Except for what little instruction he received at the Santa Fe Indian School, he had no other formal training. To quote the artist: "I, Oqwa Pi, have been painting since the early 1920s.  As I found that painting was the best among my talents, I decided to do my best to win me fame as an Indian artist....as an artist, I have raised a big, healthy family for my painting brought in good income...." Artist's letter to Philbrook Art Center

Characteristic of Oqwa Pi's style, there are no backgrounds, foregrounds, and minimal ground lines. This tends to make his art charming and true to the folk-art style and certainly true to the Santa Fe Indian School style.  The fresh color and action and the great simplicity of his paintings made the works of his well-received in exhibits at the Milwaukee Art Institute, Yale University, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Stanford University and the Gallery of Fine Arts in Muskegon, Michigan.  

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Rose Cata Gonzales was originally from Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) Pueblo. She married Robert Gonzales of San Ildefonso Pueblo and moved there with him. Rose was a sister of Pomasena Sanchez. She was the mother of Jose H. Rainbird Gonzales, Tse-Pé Gonzales, and Marie Gonzales Yazzie. Rose learned pottery making from Ramona Sanchez Gonzales, her mother-in-law. Rose's parents died from the swine flu epidemic of 1918, leaving Rose and her sister Pomasena orphaned. The girls survived by staying at the Santa Fe Indian School. Mary Cata, a relative, adopted and cared for the girls.

In the 1920s, Rose learned first how to make polished blackware. She then learned the new technique of black-on-black pottery, using a matte black paint for designs. Rose also learned the older technique of black-on-red pottery, most often associated with Tonita Martinez Roybal (1892-1945) and her mother. Rose was credited as the innovator of deep carved pottery around 1930 at San Ildefonso. She sometimes collaborated with her son, Tse-Pé, especially in duotones. She was active as a potter from 1929 to 1989.

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This San Juan Revival Polychrome Carved Jar is an excellent example of the mid-20th century revival style of San Juan pottery. The potter chose rain and cloud designs as her motif for the band surrounding the vessel body.

Rosita De Herrera and her sister, Dominguita Naranjo, along with their mother, Tomasita Montoya, were the predominant potters producing both styles of revival pottery at the pueblo in the last half of the 20th century.  Their pottery was in demand by collectors and dealers.

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Fletcher Healing, Jr. Hopi-Tewa, Fletcher is the great-grandson of Nampeyo and grandson of Annie Healing Nampeyo. Unlike the rest of the family members, he was not a potter but chose to carve Katsina dolls.  He was known for making these seated clowns whose legs hang over from the shelf. 

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Tourists have always been fascinated with pueblo pottery, but the large, traditional bowls and jars that were in use in the pueblos in the late 19th century were too cumbersome for travel, so the pueblo potters began making small souvenir pieces. Cochiti Pueblo was by far the most prolific in making figurative pottery for the tourists, but Zuni did make some, although not nearly the quantity or the variety. Mostly, Zuni potters made owl figurines.

This figurine is a fat male, presumably a Zuni Pueblo man. He wears an open vest, has two buttons on his shirt, wears traditional moccasins and has his hair tied in a chonga in the back of his head and wears a head band.  He appears to be circa 1940s.  He stands unaided but is a little shaky in doing so.  The Zuni Pueblo Polychrome Standing Male Figurine is not signed by the maker.

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Tonita Peña began painting when she was seven years old. She was the only woman painter in her generation and was part of the original group who participated in the contemporary watercolor movement.

In this Original Painting of a Ceremonial Drummer, Tonita presents a drummer during a San Ildefonso Pueblo ceremony.  He is shown with his mouth open indicating he is chanting while drumming.  The early pueblo style of painting, which has no ground plane and no background, was meticulously carried out in this piece.

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The Navajo incorporated the naja in their jewelry as a pendant dangling on silver necklaces, commonly called squash blossom necklaces. In this instance, a beautiful cast silver naja with a pair of blossoms curving around a fleur de lis and capped with a beautiful blue turquoise cab is suspended from a string of handmade silver beads.  The naja was formed by tufa casting, then the turquoise cab was added. 

There are 14 silver blossoms and 60 silver beads that were formed as hemispheres and then soldered together to form spheres (see below for detail image).  The necklace has silver cones at each end and each of the cones has a saguaro cactus stamped into the silver (see above for detail image).  This could be the hallmark of the maker or could be just a decorative touch.

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The members of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, a sovereign Native American tribe from the Verde Valley, Arizona, have two culturally distinct backgrounds and speak two indigenous languages. The Yavapai originate from Yuman-speaking peoples known as the Pai and the Apache descend from an Athapaskan background like other Apache groups to the East.

Originally, the Yavapai and Apache tribes were separate and distinct tribes who coexisted peacefully for several hundred years. They have existed as one tribal nation since 1934. The Yavapai-Apache Tribal Reservation is located at Camp Verde, about 90 miles north of Phoenix and 50 miles south of Flagstaff, along Interstate 17.  They are generally referred to as Western Apache.

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This jar was originally purchased from the Popovi Da Studio at San Ildefonso Pueblo.  The Popovi Da Studio was originally opened to display and sell pottery by Maria Martinez and family members.  Popovi eventually added pottery and paintings by other local artists to his inventory.  After Popovi died in 1972, his widow Anita Da continued operating the studio for several years and finally closed it sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s.  Popovi's personal collection of Martinez family pottery that was displayed at the Studio was then sold to the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos.

Rose Gonzales was one of the potters featured at Popovi's Studio.  She was originally from Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) Pueblo. After she married Robert Gonzales of San Ildefonso Pueblo she moved there with him. Rose was a sister of Pomasena Sanchez. She was the mother of Jose H. Rainbird Gonzales, Tse-Pé Gonzales, and Marie Gonzales Yazzie. Rose learned pottery making from Ramona Sanchez Gonzales, her mother-in-law. Rose's parents died from the swine flu epidemic of 1918, leaving Rose and her sister Pomasena orphaned. The girls survived by staying at the Santa Fe Indian School. Mary Cata, a relative, adopted and cared for the girls.  Rose lived at San Ildefosno for the remainder of her life.

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Sue Poncho Tapia is a potter originally from Laguna Pueblo, who married Tom Tapia from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo.  She and her husband make Ohkay Owingeh style pottery. This small bowl with a handle was beautifully carved with vertical ribs. Each group of four vertical ribs alternates with polished red finish and micaceous finish. The arched handle and area of the rim are finished in a polished state.  The underside of the bowl is matte finish.

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Contemporary melon jars had their start at Santa Clara Pueblo sometime in the 1960s.  It is not known who was the first to make them but we know that Severa Tafoya (1890-1973), mother of Angela Baca, made them. Angela Baca (1927-2014) also made them and was probably the best known at the time for both black and red melon jars.  Later, Helen Shupla (1928-1985) made them.  Many other potters are now making versions of melon jars.

Angela Baca is still probably the best known for melon jars of the original style.  Helen Shupla's melon jars were of a different style.  This small red melon jar is very traditionally an Angela Baca one.  The ribs are stone polished and the lines between ribs are in matte finish.  The melon ribs extend from the rim to the base.  The jar is signed Angela Baca on the underside.

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This Hopi Small Bowl with Rim Design was constructed with native clay and stone polished on the interior and exterior without addition of slip.  The burnish is on the natural clay body.  The design was painted on the exterior of the rim in a repetitive pattern in dark brown pigment.

The bowl is simple and elegant and a testament to the creative talent of Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo (1928- ) who could visualize the elegance of a simple design on an open bowl and apply the design with painted perfection.  It is signed Dextra Quotskuyva on the underside.

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The turquoise in this ring is all natural with very little matrix. The individual cabs are beautiful sky blue in color and have imperfections that are natural.  The Navajo Silver and Turquoise Floral Design Ring has a charming appeal as if made by and for its Navajo creator. 

The silver shank branches out at the base of the ring into three sections.  At the end of each of the branches is a silver dot, a little extra touch not normally applied by most artisans.

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Gerald Nailor (1917-1952) painted in a decorative manner unlike any other Navajo artist.  His style was unique and quite recognizable.  He generally painted in soft matte colors.

Other than these images, there are no other sky or background images to distract from the main subject matter. The Untitled Painting Hair Washing with Yucca Root Shampoo is signed Gerald Nailor '37 in lower right.

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T. C. Cannon (1946-1978) Pai-doung-u-day "One Who Stands In The Sun" died young and left behind a beautiful, powerful oeuvre. He was born in 1946 in Lawton, Oklahoma, and died in an automobile accident in Santa Fe in 1978.

He had attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, studying with Fritz Scholder. He seemed somewhat bitter and distrustful of authority. One of his teachers suggested to T. C. that they get in two rocking chairs facing each other and rock and frown until all the aggression was gone. He was away from home for the first time, so perhaps his quiet and reflective nature was misread as bitterness.

In 1975, T. C. Cannon began a collaboration with Japanese master woodcutter Maeda and master printer Uchikawa, a collaboration that continued until Cannon's untimely death in 1978. The result was the publication of the Memorial Woodcut Suite.  In 1978, Cannon traveled to New York to sign the first two of the completed Japanese woodcuts.  He returned to Santa Fe and died in an automobile accident on May 8th.  Cannon's father, Walter, signed the remaining woodcut prints for his son.

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Today, Hopi Pueblo potter Mark Tahbo is mimicking those potters of more than a hundred years ago, who were mimicking those of almost a thousand years before their time.  Just like the potters of the 1890s were reintroducing designs from the Sikyatki potters, Mark Tahbo is reintroducing designs from the potters of the 1890s.  He is using designs from Polacca Polychrome pottery as his inspiration for some of his pottery today. 

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Fletcher Healing was the grandson of Annie Healing Nampeyo and great-grandson of Nampeyo of Hano. Unlike the rest of the Hopi Pueblo family members, he was not a potter but chose to carve Katsina dolls.  He was known for making these seated clowns whose legs hang over from the shelf. 

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Kewa (formerly Santo Domingo) Pueblo artisans have been known for decades for the fine hieshe necklaces they produce. It is a style they have made for their own use for a thousand or more years, long before they started into silverwork. Hieshe is made from sea shells.  The shells are first cut into small square sections, drilled in the center, strung on wire or string, then sanded by hand, in an up and down stroke, until each one is round.  That sounds easy but is not.  It is important to exert the same pressure on every stroke to achieve hieshe of the same diameter when finished.

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This exquisite small bowl is attributed to Nampeyo of Hano based on construction techniques, layout of design, and execution of design.  One of the first items of consideration is the extra coil of clay Nampeyo placed at the interior rim of bowls, which is easily determined by rubbing one's hand along the rim interior.  Such a coil is evident in this bowl.   The bottom is rounded, not flattened, and shows evidence of long polishing strokes as was typical of Nampeyo.  The layout of the design is very typical of her style.

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