Jessie Garcia took the Acoma parrot to a new level in this wedding vessel.  The outline of the bird is more artsy than most parrots by other artists. Her use of fine lines in three areas of the bird's body adds a degree of sophistication not seen in other potter's birds.  The birds on the sides of the vessel are also creatively unique.

Jessie Garcia was considered by Rick Dillingham (author of Acoma & Laguna Pottery-see link below) as one of the three most important 20th century potters from Acoma Pueblo, along with Lucy Lewis and Marie Z. Chino.  She was the mother of Anita Lowden and Stella Shutiva and the mother-in-law of Sarah Garcia, all three of whom are recognized as outstanding potters. In 1941, Museum of New Mexico director Kenneth Chapman donated a Jessie Garcia seed jar to the Indian Arts Fund. The Indian Arts Fund purchased a Jessie Garcia bowl from Mrs. William J. Lippincott, and then, in 1966, the Indian Arts Fund made a direct purchase of a bowl from Jessie at Santa Fe Indian Market. These acquisitions indicate the esteem that the Indian Arts Fund had for the work of this potter.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #AcomaPueblo #AcomaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery

Wupamo appears on all three mesas as a guard, and the whips that he carries are for use on the unwary.  Usually he may be found during the Powamu procession circling out from the sides or swinging in at the rear to spur the laggards.  He moves a little more quickly than Wuyak-kuita but just as surely.

On Hopi Pueblo, First Mesa, as one of the Furious Katsinas, he is often led or rather held back by a rope around his waist that is held by a *Koyemsi.  He is given to making short furious dashes towards the audience or other katsinas or kiva priests much in the manner of an erratic dog.

In addition to the Powamu he may appear in the Palȍlȍkong or help enforce community work such as spring cleaning.

#adobegallery #HopiPueblo #Katsina #Kachina #Doll #SouthwestIndianArt #PuebloArt #SantaFeNM #NativeAmericanArts

The Talavai or Morning Katsina formerly appeared in pairs on the rooftops and sang songs, waking the people in their village.  During the day they would dance with the other katsinas whom they led and prompted in the singing. This role is no longer used in any of the villages.  They still appear with the other katsinas in the PowamuCeremony and are most often standing in a set to one side of the main movement of the procession.  Occasionally they sing as they stand holding their spruce trees and ringing their bells.

The specific name of this katsina is also the generic name of a group of katsinas that appear at dawn on the last day of the Bean Dance (or the Powamu Ceremony) and give presents and bean sprouts to the children of the village.  This latter group, referred to as Talavai Katsinas, may include Huhuwa, Ma'alo, Talavai, Hemis and many others to include the Morning.

#adobegallery #HopiPueblo #Katsina #Kachina #Doll #SouthwestIndianArt #PuebloArt #SantaFeNM #NativeAmericanArts

Helen Cordero was truly an original artist. Unable to fashion pottery vessels in a manner with which she could be satisfied, she changed her course to figurative pottery, rather than give up altogether. Little did she know that she was starting a new tradition in pueblo pottery production.

Cordero is now famous for creating the pueblo storyteller figurine-a male figurine with a number of children climbing over him. She stated that her grandfather was a storyteller and that is where she got the idea from.  In addition to male storyteller figurines, Cordero also made female figurines, similar to the storyteller, but she called them "singing mothers." She only made storytellers as male. Any of her female figurines are designated differently.

This figurine is one of her "singing mothers" holding a single child.  She is dressed in the traditional pueblo manta which rides over one shoulder and under the other.  Her waist is tied with a belt that hangs down her left side and her manta is fringed at the hem. She is wearing the traditional leather moccasins with leg wraps.  Over her head she is wearing a striped shawl. The adult's eyes are closed and mouth open as she sings to the baby, a tradition that Cordero followed throughout her storyteller career.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #CochitiPueblo #CochitiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #HelenCordero

Well-crafted and beautifully-decorated pottery has always been part of the pueblo aesthetic.  It was not until the late 19th century that potters started adhering to the unfamiliar tastes of the Western eye.  It was of necessity to do this in order to make a sale.  This has not changed even today.  Potters produce what they know will sell to the non-Indian market.

This dough bowl, however, speaks loudly of the pueblo aesthetic.  It was made for, designed by and used by a pueblo potter.  It was made in the vessel shape that was needed for a particular use and designed with a traditional Kewa Pueblo design which could have been passed down in the same family of potters for decades.  It is because of these reasons that this bowl becomes such a collectible treasure.  It was beautifully shaped and expertly painted.  It is possible that it may have been used for several decades before leaving the pueblo.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #KewaPueblo #KewaPottery #SantoDomingoPueblo #PuebloPottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

This historic pottery jar is an old friend who has returned to the gallery.  We sold it in 1999 to a client to whom we stated that it was attributed to Marianita Roybal of San Ildefonso Pueblo.  Marianita was an active potter from about 1860 to 1910. "Her jars were mostly with orange rims, designs around the neck, and a principal design of repeated forms around the middle.  Her bases were often orange. Her jars, in the 1880s, were rounded with a 'full belly' and graceful, short necked rims. Her later jars would become more compressed with the belly of the jars pushed down and the necks more elongated."    - Schaaf 2000

Marianita collaborated with different pottery painters-Maximiliana "Anna" Montoya, elder sister of Maria Martinez; Crescencio Martinez (1879-1918); Marianita's son, Ignacio Roybal; and her grandson, Joe Aguilar.  There may have been others, such as Florentino Montoya (1858-1918).

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SanIldefonsoPueblo #SanIldefonsoPottery #PuebloPottery #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery #MarianitaRoybal

It was not unusual for potters to decorate with four colors of pigment or slip in the late 1800s, but it was rare to see the use of four colors in the earlier twentieth century.  Perhaps, the extra work in applying a fourth color was not prudent because tourists were not interested in paying more for a souvenir than necessary. So, why should a potter expend the extra time in decorating a jar if something simpler would suffice?

This small jar was a labor of love for the potter.  She chose to spend time laying out and painting an exquisite masterpiece of fine craftsmanship.  The zigzag black-on-white bars encircling the body are stylistically those used by potters at Laguna during the early 20th century.  Not only did they often use such bars, they also used checkerboard designs. The simple design surrounding the neck of the jar is typical of Laguna potters too.  An Acoma potter would have filled in the white area with more designs.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #LagunaPueblo #LagunaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery

Grace Medicine Flower and her father, Camilio Tafoya, collaborated on pottery for a number of years. Grace says she actually started working with her dad when she was just a child. She started making very traditional Santa Clara Pueblo carved ware but eventually developed her contemporary style of sgraffito carving. Camilio, too, started with traditional carved ware but specialized in very large pieces.

This small seed jar is typical of the style Grace and Camilio made in the 1970s and 1980s. It is one of their most sought-after styles. The body of the vessel is a very highly polished black.  The matte black design is just slightly carved into the clay body. The three sienna medallions each feature a Navajo reigious Yei figure of the Diné. The matte design on the top surface is a stylized Avanyu water serpent. 

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SantaClaraPueblo #SantaClaraPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #GraceMedicineFlower

Nathan Youngblood (1954- ) Deer Path chose to leave this bowl void of decoration and to let the beautiful dark black burnishing serve that purpose.  There is a beauty in such a vessel shape, in the dark black mirror reflection, and in the burnishing to a high luster.

The jar is signed with the name of the artist but there is no date of when it was made.  It is quite likely that it dates to the late 1970s, as that was a period when Nathan produced what may be called understated pottery-understated not being a negative term but a term of accomplishment.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SantaClaraPueblo #SantaClaraPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #NathanYoungblood

Dorothy Trujillo was one of the early potters to make storyteller figurines.  She was from a family of outstanding potters. Her sisters, Mary E. Toya (b.1934), Marie Edna Coriz (b.1946), Alma Loretto Concha Maestas (b.1941), Fannie Loretto Wall (b.1953), and Lenora Lupe Lucero (b.1943), are famous potters as well.  Interestingly, her sisters also married out of their native pueblo and moved to the pueblo of their spouses.

In true Cochiti Pueblo tradition, Dorothy made her figurine with eyes closed and mouth open. The closed eyes represent "thought" and the open mouth represents "storytelling." The adult figurine is beautifully painted with a design on the back and wearing a squash blossom necklace.  There are 30 children spread over the adult figure. Two of the children are wearing Plains Indian headdresses. The figurine is signed with the artist's name. 

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #CochitiPueblo #CochitiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #DorothyTrujillo

The Hopi call their ancestors Hisatsinam, "People of Long Ago."  Most others refer to them as Anasazi.  The Hopi ancestors were making pottery as long ago as A.D. 700.  They made black-on-white, black-on-red, and, eventually, Polychrome.  The Polychrome wares started around 1740, became the predominant utilitarian style around 1800, and continued being used until the  1890s, being known as Polacca Polychrome.

Collectors developed an interest in pottery from the Hopi Mesas in the late 1800s, resulting in a revival period for Hopi pottery, spearheaded by Nampeyo and other First Mesa potters.  Early pottery of this period by Nampeyo was in the Polacca Polychrome style, prior to her revival of Sikyatki-inspired pottery.

This Polacca Polychrome bowl is most certainly one made in the 1890s as an item intended for sale.  It has a lug on the back side from which it can be hung on a wall, something for which a Hopi would have no use.  The design features elements of rain, rain clouds, and tail feathers.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #HopiPueblo #HopiPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery #IndianMarket#sfim2018

This Acoma jar by Mary Histia was a gift from the potter to Maureen Grammer of Albuquerque in 1966.  Grammer, a resident of Albuquerque since 1926 passed away in 2004. She had been a teacher in the Albuquerque Public Schools until her retirement.  She had obtained BA and MA degrees from the University of New Mexico. After her retirement, she concentrated on working in the fine arts and Indian arts appraisal business and on writing for magazines.

Mrs. Grammer was a well-known student of American Indian arts and was a noted appraiser of Indian arts for decades.  She identified unsigned works by Native artists and was accepted as a knowledgeable expert on the subject. It is not unusual to see statements saying "Maurine Grammer said . . ." or "according to Maurine Grammer . . ." and such statements are accepted as fact.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #AcomaPueblo #AcomaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery #IndianMarket#sfim2018 #MaryHistia

Carolyn Concho is the daughter of Katherine Lewis of Acoma Pueblo and sister of Rebecca Lucario, Marilyn Henderson Ray, Judy Lewis, Diane Lewis, & Bernard Lewis.  She has been an active potter since circa 1984. Carolyn was born September 15, 1961 at the village of Acomita on the Acoma Reservation. She has won numerous awards at Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Museum, and New Mexico State Fair. She has sold to museums and collectors since 1984.

This small seed jar was executed in five pigment colors-white, dark brown, green, orange and red pigments.  The main design on top of the dome is a Mimbres crane that has just captured a fish. Surrounding that are diamonds in brown pigment interspersed by triangles in color with fine parallel lines.  The bottom is signed C. Concho Acoma, N.M.  

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #AcomaPueblo #AcomaPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #sfim2018 #CarolynConcho

As we have stated before, Jennie Trammel was an amazing potter, producing some of the most beautiful pueblo pottery ever.  Unfortunately, she made fewer pottery items than any of the other daughters of Margaret Tafoya. She had a full-time job away from Santa Clara Pueblo and had little time for making pottery.  Interestingly, she was absolutely a phenomenal potter and produced the most beautiful carved wares of the twentieth century.

At first glance, one might overlook that the carved outline of this jar features the revered Avanyu, or water serpent, often seen on Santa Clara and San Ildefonso potteries.  The artist modernized the serpent somewhat so it is not obviously apparent that it is an Avanyu. The lightning from the Avanyu's mouth has been curled around rather than protruding straight out.  

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SantaClaraPueblo #SantaClaraPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #sfim2018 #JennieTrammel

There isn't a square inch on this jar without design.  Linda Tafoya-Sanchez divided the design concept into five different bands.  Starting from the top of the vessel, the stove-pipe neck is filled with fourteen vertical and parallel polished bars, each separated by a thin matte line.  The next panel of design consists of Greek-keyelements encircling the lower neck. On the shoulder is an Avanyu, or wtaer serpent,wrapped around to the point where the tail meets the mouth, from which a lightning bolt extends.  At the midbody of the jar is a series of Greek-key elements. The final panel, below mid-body, is a series of feathers that extend to the base of the jar. Each of these designs is highly polished to perfection.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SantaClaraPueblo #SantaClaraPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #sfim2018 #LindaTafoyaSanchez

LuAnn Tafoya, a daughter of Margaret Tafoya, certainly inherited the talent to produce beautifully sculpted vessels with outrageously burnished surfaces. She has made jars almost three feet tall, a feat not easily accomplished. Her grandmother, Sara Fina Tafoya, was a masterful potter, as was her mother, Margaret, who, in turn, passed on this artistic gene and talent to nine children and numerous grandchildren.

LuAnn has been a consistent award winner every year since 1980 and the ribbons keep coming in, deservedly.  She is a master potter and has been recognized as such by judges and collectors. Her burnishing is unequal, forms are well balanced, and pottery designs executed to precision.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery #SantaClaraPueblo #SantaClaraPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #SantaFePottery #FinePuebloPottery #ContemporaryPottery #sfim2018 #LuAnnTafoya

Pablita Velarde (1918-2006) Tse Tsan - Golden Dawn was an innovative and influential artist from Santa Clara Pueblo.  Velarde was the first full-time female student in Dorothy Dunn's art class at the Santa Fe Indian School, where she studied alongside Tonita Peña.  These two women are regarded as the first Native American women to support themselves as painters, but it's not just because of this that they are remembered so fondly.  It's because of the quality of their works that they have remained so visible in the many years since they have passed. 

Velarde painted in the traditional style of the Santa Fe Indian School, creating accurate portraits of Native American life and culture. At first she worked in watercolor, but later learned how to prepare paints from natural pigments-a process called "Fresco Secco."  She is best known for these mineral earth paintings. She ground mineral and rock elements on a metate and mano until the result was a powdery substance. From this substance her paints were made. She also painted on paper, often using casein in addition to earth pigments. She was also known to create art derived from the Navajo sandpainting tradition.

Velarde's list of accomplishments and accolades is long and varied.  Her works have been exhibited around the country and are included in many prestigious public and private collections.  Author and anthropologist Clara Lee Tanner called her the "greatest woman artist in the Southwest." Her daughter Helen Hardin and her granddaughter Margaret Bagshaw were themselves very successful and influential painters, creating an artistic dynasty that spanned three generations.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPainting #NativeAmericanPainting #SantaclaraPainting #PablitaVelarde #FineArt #IndianMarketCountdown2018 #sfim2018

The beauty of Ohkay Owingeh pottery is its simplicity.  The shape of the vessel is the dominant visual stimulation, not being overrun by painted design.  The deep red slip that overlays the tan clay is traditional to all earlier bowls and jars. When the stone-polished vessel is fired in the traditional manner, there are usually beautiful fire clouds on the vessel wall, however, this bowl does not have fire clouds.  

According to Batkin¹, pottery making at San Juan (Ohkay Owingeh) Pueblo almost died out by 1900 except for an occasional piece made for household use or for sale or trade. There was a revival in the 1930s but it was of a different style.

This bowl possibly dates to the early twentieth century but the lack of fire clouds and lack of indications of use would make one think it was made later and was made for sale, not for use at the pueblo.

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery # OhkayOwingehPueblo #OhkayOwingehPottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery #IndianMarket #sfim2018 #NativeAmericanArts

This is a most unusual bowl from San Ildefonso Pueblo.  The interior was slipped in red, the interior rim was slipped in white, and the design was executed in black.  This combination of design and color was used by Maria Martinez on occasion.

There are two vessels by Maria Martinez in the Museum of New Mexico collection (18798/12 and 36005/12), one of which is signed with her name Poh've'ka.  In the first one, a jar, the upper neck-the full area above the shoulder-is decorated with  Black-on-red, and the lower portion- the body of the vessel-is decorated in polychrome colors on white slip. The other vessel mentioned is a terrace rim bowl, with the exterior in black on red and the interior in traditional San Ildefonso Polychrome, both vessels being dated circa 1925.

It is not our intention to state or infer that this bowl was made by Maria and painted by Julian, only that they are known for having done similar styles.

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This circa 1880s bowl from Tesuque Pueblo appears never to have been used.  The interior slip and design are in original condition. The bowl is a little out of alignment in roundness, varying in diameter by 1/4-inch.  The depth is 4-½ inches on one area and 4 inches on another. It appears to have sagged while the clay was still moist or wet. It is those aspects of the bowl that add to its charm.

The double framing line on the interior of the bowl was most definitely placed free-hand as it is somewhat wavy in style.  The designs on the interior were well executed. A two-inch wide red band was added to the rim area on the exterior of the bowl.  

#adobegallery #SouthwestIndianPottery # TesuquePueblo # TesuquePottery #PuebloPottery #SouthwestIndianArt #FinePuebloPottery #HistoricPottery #IndianMarket #sfim2018 #NativeAmericanArts