Cochiti, at the turn of the last century, made very little pottery for local use, importing it instead from Acoma, Zuni and Zia Pueblos.  What pottery the potters were making was mostly limited to figurative type-effigy vessels and human and animal figurines.  Production of functional pottery vessels increased later in the 20^th century as potters discovered that tourists and collectors were interested in bowls and jars as well as figurines.

Read more about this historic bowl here.

Kokopellmana is the erotic female counterpart of Kokopelli, the Humpback Flute Player.  She will induce someone to run against "her" and then hoist her skirts and overtake him.  She flings him to the ground and imitates copulation with him to the amusement of the audience and the complete discomfort of the loser.  Kokopellmana is impersonated by a male, as are all Hopi Katsinas.

Read more about this Katsina doll here.

   José Angela Aguilar, sometimes known as Joe Aguilar, was the son of Susana Aguilar-a well-known potter-and is known to have painted pottery for his mom.  He was the husband of Rosalie Simbola Aguilar, originally from Picuris Pueblo, and also a potter, for whom he also painted pottery.  He was an exceptional painter.  Kenneth Chapman included him on a list of fifteen men who painted pottery at San Ildefonso before 1940.  His son, Alfred Aguilar, said that his father formed pots, as well as painting them.

Read more about this painting here.

Crystal Trading Post in New Mexico has a place in the history of Navajo textiles unlike any other post of its time except Ganado Trading Post in Arizona-and that time was in the first quarter of the 20^th century.  The first permanent trading post business in the Chuska Mountains was established in 1894 by Joe Wilkin and Elmer Whitehouse.  Two years later, Joe Reitz bought out Whitehouse and J. B. Moore bought out Wilkin.  The following year, Moore became the sole owner of the post and named it Crystal after a very pure and sparkling mountain spring that ran by the post.

Read more about this Rug here.

The Hopi have preserved their culture in a more traditional form than many other Native tribes in the United States.  The men have continued their reenactment of the roles of the Katsina in Hopi life and the women have continued to practice the art of basketry for its original intent.

We, as outsiders, see Hopi plaques as decorative objects made to sell to tourists and collectors but that is only a secondary and recent purpose.  The plaques have served to retain Hopi culture and the women are responsible for this occurrence.  It is the females who laboriously gather the materials, process them through sun drying, preparing the dyes and dying the wicker and then, as a last step, weaving the plaque.  It is the plaque that symbolizes the woman's role in Hopi culture as it is the reenactment of the Katsina dances that reinforces the role of the men.

Read more about this basket here.

CG Wallace came to Zuni in 1919 at the age of 21. Over the next 50 years he was decidedly the most influential trader of Zuni and Navajo jewelry. He supplied the highest quality materials to his artists and demanded perfection. In 1975 he decided to give part of his personal collection to the Heard Museum and the remainder was sold at a Sotheby's auction. One of his silversmiths was a Navajo named Little Joe Begay who was active in the 1940s. 

Read more about this jewelry here.

Crescencio Martinez of San Ildefonso was the earliest of the pueblo easel artists.  He passed away in 1918, long before pueblo easel art was recognized as existing.  He was followed by four pueblo young men who essentially constitute the first artists to produce paintings to be sold.  The four were Crescencio's nephew, Awa Tsireh, Hopi artists Fred Kabotie and Otis Polelonema, and Zia Pueblo artist Velino Herrera, Ma Pe Wi.  They became very productive in 1918, feeding off each other's enthusiasm.

Read more about these paintings here.

Pottery production declined at Laguna Pueblo in the early 20^th century, largely because the men were being employed by the railroad, thereby providing cash income for the families.  It was then no longer necessary for the women to make pottery for sale to tourists. They could, and did, purchase pottery from potters at Acoma Pueblo for use in their households.

Read more about this pottery here.

This beautifully polished black dish by Legoria features twisted handles often seen in Santa Clara engagement jars.  Legoria used such handles in many of her pottery items where handles were incorporated and on wedding vessels between the two spouts.  The dish is signed Legoria Str Clara Pueblo on the underside.

Read more about this pottery here.

Rose Gonzales was born at Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan) Pueblo in 1900 and, soon after, became an orphan when her parents died from the flu epidemic.  She and her sister survived by boarding at the Santa Fe Indian School.  She married Robert Gonzales of San Ildefonso Pueblo and moved to his pueblo at that time.  She learned the art of pottery making from his mother.

Read more about this pottery here.

Anthony Lovato is Corn Clan from Kewa Pueblo.  He has been an active jeweler since he was 20 years old.  He studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe and studied under the tutelage of Allan Houser.  He also credits Leo Coriz, Sedelio Lovato and Skip Holbrook as teachers.

Read more about this ring here.

Zuni artisans have a long history in lapidary work but after learning silver work from the Navajo in the late 1800s, they put the two ideas together and started producing jewelry of silver and stone. Zuni lapidary artisans became proficient in mosaic-style inlay jewelry and miniature turquoise stones called petit point.  Zuni petit point jewelry was first made in the 1930s. This process is time consuming and painstaking. Multiple small stones are cut and shaped to fit into tiny bezels to create the design.

Read more about these earrings here.

This exquisite sterling silver sculpted butterfly pin is not signed with the name of the artisan but it appears to be an early Zuni piece perhaps from the 1940s.  The silver chain is handmade and each link in the chain is stamped with a design. It is quite possible that the butterfly was a pin at one time and has been converted to a necklace.

Read more about this necklace here.

There were cross cultural experiences and influences between the early European-American artists of Santa Fe and Taos and the local Pueblo painters.  Santa Fe artist William Penhollow Henderson, who moved to Santa Fe in 1916, had an influence on the work of Awa Tsireh in that Henderson shared his art books with Awa Tsireh and some of those books were on Japanese and other Asian arts.

It is quite likely that Awa Tsireh developed the style seen in this painting through studying Henderson's Asian art books.  The static, frontal symmetrical positioning of flat imagery outlined in black line and filled with flat bright colors has a definite Asian appearance.  The dancers are positioned facing to the front with their feet facing sideways.  Their faces are rounded and abstract, yet their clothing is pictured in the finest accurate detail.  It is this style that Awa Tsireh produced in the 1920s. This is only one style of Awa Tsireh's art.  He apparently tried styles seen in other books belonging to Henderson.

Read more about this painting here.

Tsihnahjinnie was a master at depicting a realistic approach to the everyday life activities of his people. Where as Harrison Begay portrayed an idealistic approach to Navajo life, Tsihnahjinnie was recording the history of the Navajo in his paintings. He painted scenes of Sings (a ceremony), Gamblers, Dances and other events of the isolated life of the Navajo.

Read more about this painting here.

Alfonso Roybal (1898-1955) Awa Tsireh was painting before 1917 while he was still a teenager. He was the oldest of the early group of pueblo painters. His formal education had not extended beyond primary grades. He was versatile in his styles of painting in that he was equally comfortable with representational or semi-realistic.  Most of his work is in the Santa Fe Indian School two-dimensional style, particularly his early work and many of those were single-figure images.

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A book published in 1997 entitled "The World of Flower Blue" by Margaret Cesa provides a wonderful look into the life of Pop Chalee. Cesa states "Pop Chalee was one of the first Native American woman artists to achieve national fame, recognition and commercial success."  The author continues to explore the artist, who was born of a Swiss mother and Taos Pueblo father, in 1906.  Her father, Joe Lujan, was the brother of Tony Lujan who was the last husband of Mabel Dodge Lujan.

Merina Lujan - Pop Chalee (Blue Flower) graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1937 and was a student at The Studio under the tutelage of Dorothy Dunn.  The author continues: "Her paintings, jewelry, textile designs and murals grace museums, private collections and public institutions across the county.  During her artistic life, Pop knew some of the most influential people of her times."

Read more about this painting here.

This small jar was made by Maria Martinez and painted, and probably fired, by Popovi Da.  It features an Avanyu wrapped around the upper half of the jar, achieved by painting a matte border around the polished image desired.

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Fannie Nampeyo was an outstanding potter. She was one of three daughters of Nampeyo of Hano and was the last of the three to pass away. As a result, she is probably the best known of Nampeyo's daughters. Fannie was particularly adept at making fine, well balanced vessels. She seemed to be particularly outstanding at applying just the right design to fit the scale and shape of the vessel.

Read more about this Hopi Pottery here.

It is from the shape of melons that the pottery melon jar evolved.  It resembles cantaloupe with its globular shape and vertical ribs.  The melon jar seems to have developed at Santa Clara Pueblo with the most renown potters Helen Shupla and Angela Baca being the ones who specialized in making them.  Other potters followed the tradition.

Read more about this pottery here.