José Disiderio (J.D.) Roybal [1922-1978] Oquwa - Rain God grew up under the artistic influence of his well-known uncle Awa Tsireh. Early in his education, he studied at St. Catherine's School in Santa Fe and at the Business College of Santa Fe. In the early 1950s he and Julia were married and it was then that he started producing pueblo dance designs on hand-painted Christmas cards. By 1955 he was seriously painting larger works and recognition for his talents came from the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the Philbrook in Oklahoma. He received a consistent string of first prizes in painting for each year since the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Shows began.

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Tonita Martinez Roybal (1892-1945) Antonita has been acclaimed to have been one of the finest potters of the twentieth century. She was a contemporary of Maria Martinez and sometimes collaborated with her. Roybal, in her early years, not only made all her own pottery, she decorated it as well. Only after she married Juan Cruz Roybal in 1916 did she have someone else paint the pottery for her. After 1930, her husband painted most of her pottery. 

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Grace Medicine Flower stated "Sgraffito carving is very precise and painstaking work.  One of the marks of a true artist is not only the design but also the fine-line work making up the design.  Carved after the pot is dried and polished, but before it is fired, one slip of the knife, one tiny chip and the design can be ruined.  There is no chance for erasure, there is no chance for recovery."

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Tony Abeyta has achieved the emotional and artistic expression that most artists can only portray on a much larger scale.  There are the dynamics of billowing clouds producing rain in concentrated definable areas as happens in the mountains of New Mexico.  The landscape is clear and beautiful, only obliterated by heavy rainfall in restricted areas.  The colors of the earth, its plants and trees, and reflections from the intense sun all stand out in harmony in this strong yet peaceful landscape.  One has to experience one of these summer storms to realize how powerful they are.

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Those who knew Garnet Pavatea are aware that for most of her career, she fired her pottery in the traditional outdoor manner.  Later, in the last decade of her life, she had both lower legs amputated from the results of diabetes and was then unable to fire outdoors.  She purchased an electric kiln and fired her pots in that manner.  This jar is one of her earlier (circa 1950s) and displays evidence of an outdoor firing.  There is a fire cloud on one side that is faint but discernible.

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Zuni lapidary artisans are well known for their carved animal fetishes such as this exquisitely carved turquoise frog with jet eyes.  The body contours have been inscribed into the stone.  The frog is mounted in a silver bezel and placed on a silver sheet that is fitted for use as a pin or a pendant.  The back is stamped ZUNI but no artisan's name.

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The Hopi Arts & Crafts Co-op Guild was formed in 1947, after World War II, when returning Hopi servicemen were trained at a silversmithing school founded under the G.I. bill.  The late Paul Saufkie, Sr. was the technical instructor and the late Fred Kabotie, noted Hopi artist and designer, taught design. Although many techniques of silver work were used, the overlay style gradually emerged as the dominate style. This simple, unique, elegant jewelry is now considered essentially the Hopi style of jewelry.

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This bracelet consists of five domed and stamped silver strips separated at the top and anchored at the ends with a silver bar.  The two outer strips are slightly higher at the center than the three inner ones, acting as guards.  The simple stamped design of double feathers is a beautiful example of Navajo made Southwest Indian Jewelry. 

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Nampeyo of Hano was in the right location at the right time.  Excavations at the prehistoric Sikyatki ruins, the publicity of the Hopi Snake Dance by the Fred Harvey Company, the enthusiasm of local trader Thomas Keam, and the inherent artistic talent of Nampeyo combined to make her the preeminent potter at Hopi.  This was not easy on her traditional Hopi life, as it was not the custom for someone to stand out as better than others.  Nampeyo was chided by her neighbors for doing so.

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When Nampeyo of Hano was first making pottery, she was most likely making only utilitarian wares.  That is what she had learned from her mother, White Corn, who passed away sometime between 1901 and 1909.  Nampeyo's mother and grandmother were her mentors.  It was not until Nampeyo's husband Lesso was working with the excavation party at the prehistoric Hopi Sikyatki Pueblo ruins that Nampeyo was introduced to the magnificent prehistoric Sikyatki pottery shards that would influence her life's work and that of her descendants.

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When Nampeyo of Hano was first making pottery, she was most likely making onlyutilitarian wares.  That is what she had learned from her mother, White Corn -Kochaka, who passed away sometime between 1901 and 1909.  Nampeyo's mother and grandmother were her mentors.  It was not until Nampeyo's husband Lesso was working with the excavation party at the prehistoric Hopi Sikyatki Pueblo ruins, that Nampeyo was introduced to the magnificent prehistoric Sikyatki pottery shards that would influence her life's work and that of her descendants.

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Jars with melon ribs are fashioned after melons such as cantaloupe.  Whether cantaloupe was the inspiration for such jars is not known but it certainly is suspected.  Several potters from Santa Clara Pueblo have in the past made melon jars, but Angela Baca is among the best known for doing so. She is most likely represented in every collection of contemporary pottery with one of her black melon jars, the style and shape that has been associated with her since the 1960s.  She was quite likely the first potter to produce them.

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If Helen Shupla left her mark, it was due to her masterful creation of jars with melon ribs. She developed a technique of pushing the melon ribs outward from the inside while she was building the jar with coils of clay. She produced jars in all black, all red, and all tan. The entire surface of the vessel was then stone polished.  

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The storyteller figurine tradition started with one potter at Cochiti Pueblo in 1964. That potter, Helen Cordero, made the first image as a tribute to her grandfather who was known to be an accomplished storyteller of the pueblo. Little did she know that she was starting a new convention and innovation in pueblo pottery production. From that first storyteller figurine, many more have appeared. From that first potter to make one, many others have followed.

Since the very first storyteller figurine was created at Cochiti Pueblo, this exhibit is dedicated to showing figurines only from Cochiti Pueblo. There are over 100 storyteller and other pottery figurines made by more than 25 potters being exhibited and all are available for sale.

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Maria and Julian Martinez had four sons: Adam, John, Popovi Da, and Philip.  Adam's wife was Santana and it was she who worked with Maria following the death of Julian in 1943.  There are two periods of pottery that were collaborated by Maria and Santana.  The earlier ones were signed Marie + Santana and that period lasted from Julian's death in 1943 until 1956, at which time Popovi Da replaced Santana and helped his mom.  Maria did not immediately stop working with Santana when she began working with Popovi but did continue on and off for a few more years.  Those later pieces are signed Maria + Santana.

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   Maria Poveka Martinez (1887-1980) and Julian Martinez (1885-1943) worked together producing pottery from the early 1900s-she making the beautiful Tewa shape vessels and he painting beautiful designs in traditional Polychrome style.  Because Maria was considered the best potter at San Ildefosno Pueblo, she was selected to experiment on reproducing the prehistoric wares being excavated.  She and Julian worked diligently for several years to recreate the earlier pottery and Julian painted designs in the traditional Polychrome style.  It was not until around 1912, that they became interested in experimenting with the blackware of previous periods.  It was another 10 years before they achieved satisfactory results.

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Adee Dodge was the grandson of the first Navajo Tribal Chairman, Chee Dodge.  He studied at the University of New Mexico and received a master's degree from Columbia University in Comparative Linguistics and Anthropology. He started painting while recovering from war wounds he received while serving in the South Pacific during World War II.  A self-taught painter, he focused his work on preserving the symbols and stories of the Navajo Religion.  His work has been featured in Arizona Highways and at the Smithsonian. 

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From time to time Adobe Gallery uses terms to describe Southwest Indian pottery, paintings, rugs, jewelry, and more that you may not be familiar with. No worries we got you covered.  Check out the link below. If you don't see the term in the glossary, please give us a call and we will be glad to help you. 

Glossary of Southwest Navtive Art Terms.

Zuni Pueblo craftsmen are known for two types of stonework, inlay and petit-point. These wonderful Southwest Indian Jewelry earrings from an unknown jeweler have incorporated both types. The small sun face is inlaid with shell, turquoise and jet. Below the inlaid sun face is a petit-point base with five petit-point dangles falling from the bottom of the base.  The earrings have a post back.

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Zuni Pueblo artists are known for their remarkable ability to set the smallest pieces of stone into precisely laid out silver channels. These bird earrings are an example of the finest Zuni craftsmanship of the second half of the twentieth century. The unknown artist has used turquoise and jet for wings. The shell and jet tail feathers are set in silver channels. The head of the Southwest Indian Jewelry bird is white shell with perfectly set black jet eye and beak. These earrings are screw back.

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