Pottery
The oldest continuously-populated town in the United States lies atop a high mesa in New Mexico. This is the pueblo of Acoma, which looks today much as it did when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. Acoma Pueblo is well-known for its beautiful white, thin-walled pottery, often with parrots, rainbows and Mimbres figures. Lucy Lewis and her descendants, the Torivio and Chino families are among the most respected families of potters. |  | |
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The Hopi people have lived for centuries on three mesas in northern Arizona. Hopi pottery today is a legacy of the old abandoned Hopi pueblo of Sikyatki. Hopi clay is fired to shades of cream to apricot or light red, depending upon iron content. The most famous Hopi potter is probably Nampeyo, who revived many of the Sikyatki designs in the 1880's. Her descendants, along with the Navasi |  | |
Jemez Pueblo is located fifty miles northwest of Albuquerque and dates back to 1703. The pottery varies widely, depending upon the potter. Juanita Fragua is known for her melon styles pots, but she creates other styles, as well. The Fragua and Gachupin familes are among the most well-known for fine pottery. |  | |
Mata Ortiz has become one of the most famous villages known by fine pottery collectors. Juan Quezada first taught himself how to recreate the beautiful old Casas Grandes style pots from shards he found scattered in the desert around his home in northern Mexico, and then taught his family the art. His pots were first discovered in the 1970's in Deming, New Mexico. At this time, there are approximat |  | |
A coating of a combination of piñon and pine pitch is used on Navajo pottery, which makes it distinct from other pueblo and Southwestern pottery. This pitch was traditionally used to seal the pots for carrying water and food. The application technique of the pitch affects the color, which ranges from dark brown to golden brown. A pitch pot is made by dipping a rag-covered stick into boiling pine pitch and painting this pitch all over the pot so that it holds water and has a lovely glossy finish. |  | |
Pottery from other pueblos, including Laguna, and areas and artists, including replica pottery. |  | |
San Ildefonso Pueblo is located in north-central New Mexico, and has produced some of the most famous and innovative hand-coiled potters in North America.
Maria and Julian Martinez, their descendants Santana, Adam, Popovi and Tony Da; Blue Corn and Rose Gonzales are well-known innovators in the pottery world. Maria and Julian developed the art of firing to make the first matte black design on polished jet black pottery. Blue Corn is primarily known for her earth-colored highly-polished slips. Rose Gonzales made the first modern carved pottery with distinctive rounded edges. Toh-Atin is privileged to carry pieces by these exceptional artists. |  | |
Santa Clara and San Ildefonso have both been known for black pottery for over three centuries.
A Santa Clara tradition is the creation of large storage jars with an indented bear paw design. The near-legendary families of Tafoya, Naranjo, Navasie and Gutierrez continue to make some of the finest pots in the world. Margaret Tafoya, the matriarch of Santa Clara Pueblo potters, passed away in February 2001 at the age of 96. |  | |
Cochiti Pueblo is probably best known for its storyteller pottery; arguably, the first storyteller was created by Helen Cordero. Many potters at Cochiti and other pueblos have since taken up the art of making storytellers, and have expanded into making many types of little figures, including animal storytellers and nativity scenes. |  | |
Zia is an old northern New Mexico pueblo that was reported by Coronado's men in 1540. The common motif is the roadrunner, as well as stylized birds, rainbows, flowers, and other geometric patterns, in dark brown, brownish red, creamy white and red clay. |  | |
Zuni Pueblo is located just south of Gallup, New Mexico. Most clay at Zuni is pink, often covered by a white slip. Sculpture, water and hunting symbols are popular. | ||
1961 Blue Ribbon Winner by San Juan Pueblo potter Pricilla Vigil. Beautiful micaceous clay. Condition is fair has some surface scratches and a small chip on the lip.
Cochiti Dough Bowl- The bowl contains a fine, semi-gloss patinated surface with areas of subtle fire clouding. The elements floating on the bowl are typical Cochiti rain cloud and lightning designs and rain drops —all of which are rain symbols—typical of Cochiti decorations. Circumference 44"
Featured bowl is 2 1/2 inch by 5 inches and this Anasazi replica is a small Mesa Verde Black-on-white bowl. This art is a variation of the interlocking scroll motif, and is an Anasazi classic. In this case one scroll is the large hatched "S", the other a wide black line which is echoed in other lines all the way to the rim. Each of Clint's replicas comes with a detailed pedigree certificate.
Black Mesa black-on-white Bird Effigy replica pottery. The original for this beautiful replica, was found on Black Mesa, Arizona during coal mining mitigation work. The use was for bird effigy vessels is unknown, but the forms appeared at the beginning of the Basketmaker III and went through the Pueblo III times. Effigy pottery figures are still made today in the Pueblos on into Mexico at Casa Garande Mata Otiz.
Mesa Verde black-on-white bowl. The original of this bowl was found in the Mug House ruin in Mesa Verde Park, Colorado in the late 1960's. The replica was made of clay from the area, Bee plant dye for the paint, and was fired in an outdoor Trench kiln using juniper fuel. Clint Swink is a master at replicating this art form, that was artistically sophisticated for the time period of the ancient peoples. This bowl is one of the finest examples of the unique and skilled craftsmanship that was going on in the area around 1200AD.
McElmo Black-on-White Pitcher- is an ethical pedigree for Anasazi ceramics. This replica pitcher form is based on a piece excavated during the Hovenweep Laterals project 1988 in Montezuma County, Colorado. By the late 1200's the pitcher form is becoming scarce, perhaps being replaced by the more common mug form.
Anasazi Replica Ceramics- Very large Mesa Verde Black-on-White Bowl. This gorgeous replica of a very large Mesa Verde bowl is an amazing collection of design elements. The original is from a private collection and is from the period of Pueblo III. It was excavated in the La Plata Valley. The Olla is 13 inches wide by 6 1/4 inches high.
Clint Swink is an expert in replica Anasazi pottery recreations. The black on white pottery style is called Pueblo III period, and the ancient people that created it are known as the Anasazi. This is the only known example of a tri-cornered canteen from that period. Clint creates all his replicas as closely as possible to the originals, that are housed in museum collections. Over 20 years Clint has made some 1000 archaeological replicas, using the same materials, tools, and firing techniques. Each pieces comes with full documentation of the originals finding and the replicas creation.
Vera Fragua is a potter of storyteller dolls. This one features two girls, one boy, a ball, book and a block. The doll measures 4 inches tall.
Ed Herrera, Cochiti Pueblo potter, creates Bear storytellers. This sweet natural brown bear has its little one riding on its back. The bear paw print on the side of her is a sign of strength and protection.
