Richard Ebelacker (1946-2010)

As a young boy, Richard Ebelacker learned the secret of how to create exceptionally large Santa Clara redware and blackware pots from his grandmother, Margaret Tafoya, and his mother, Virginia Ebelacker. The Tafoya family tradition was being carried forward by Richard, his brother, James, their children and many cousins.

In 1971, at the age of twenty-five, Richard participated with his family in a landmark exhibit, “Seven Families in Pueblo Pottery,” at the University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Over twenty years later, Richard’s 19 ¾” x 22 ½” redware storage jar with bear paws was preserved in the permanent collection of the Laboratory of Anthropology at the Museum of Indian Art and Culture in Santa Fe. The masterpiece was illustrated full page in the revised Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham.

Richard’s work was impressive, displaying a refined, traditional style. Over the past three decades, Richard won over 35 ribbons, including Best of Class and Best of Division. He was known for creating exceptionally large pots—some so large and magnificent—they simply inspire everyone to gasp in awe.

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