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Santa Clara Pueblo Pottery
Black pottery from the Santa Clara Pueblo is among the most well-known in the entire world. Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo is arguably the most well known Potter ever to live. She became famous for the black pottery tradition that is now carried on by artists of the Santa Clara Pueblo. Santa Clara Pueblo pottery has become the most collectible Native American pottery. This incredible art form begins with natural red clays gathered from the pueblos and surrounding hills. The clay undergoes many preparations before it is finally molded into the finished product. The artist generally rolls the clay into long thin rolls, then begins to "build" the piece by layering these rolls one on top of the other. This hand coiled method includes smoothing the coils by hand to the pottery's final shape. The artist then begins the arduous task of polishing the piece. This is accomplished by rubbing a smooth "polishing" stone over the piece over and over until the red clay shines. Finally, the piece is fired in an "oxygen reduction" firing process. During the firing, the artist smothers the fire with horse manure. The manure traps a thick, carbon rich smoke all around the piece. The carbon contained in the smoke fuses itself into the clay, turning it black. This black color can never be removed or washed off. The entire process is fraught with problems as about 3 of every 5 pieces actually emerge from the fire without damage. Given the rarity of this pottery, artists often view the clay as a living entity. A finished piece is often revered as a gift from what pueblo potters often respectfully refer to as the "Clay Mother". The end result is a stunning piece of Native American pottery work of art.
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Denise Chavarria Denise is the daughter of well known potter Stella Chavarria and the granddaughter of famed potter Teresita Naranjo. Her work was reminiscent of Stella's and Teresita's for some years but in recent years she has developed her own characteristic style. She has entered Santa Fe Indian Market for many years and has won numerous awards. This hand coiled pot is signed by Denise and features her famous Avanyu design. 5 1/2" Tall, 4" Wide Suggested Retail $280.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Vickie Martinez Tafoya Vickie Martinez “Koe-Sawe”, Buffalo Steps, was born into the Pueblo of Santa Clara-Tewa in 1967. Vickie was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of her ancestors of working with clay from her Mother, Barbara Martinez. She has been making pottery since 1983, when she was 15 years old. Vickie specializes in the traditional handmade black and red Santa Clara pottery. She gathers her own natural clay from the hills within the Santa Clara Pueblo. Vickie cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, carves, fires, and then polishes her pottery the traditional way. Vickie was quoted as saying: “I find carving a very challenging and rewarding experience, which I am enjoying thoroughly.” Like all good Santa Clara pottery, the high gloss on this pot was achieved by polishing the surface with a smooth stone...a very tedious process. Three and sometimes as many as five layers of slip are applied to the smooth dried work, allowing time between coats to dry, and then followed by a lubricating coat of animal fat. The fat serves two purposes: one, it allows the stone to slide smoothly over the surface and two, it keeps the slip damp. Polishing stones are highly treasured and usually passed on to descendants. This large piece features the classic Avanyu water serpent design. Vickie signs her pottery as: Vickie Martinez Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo. 7 3/8" Tall , 5 1/4" Wide Suggested Retail $495.00 / Your Price: $375.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Gwen Tafoya Gwen Tafoya was born in 1965 into the Santa Clara Pueblo-Tewa. She began experimenting with pottery making at the age of 6. She started out hand coiling small bowls and pots, using traditional methods. Gwen began making larger pieces of pottery by the time she reached the age of 16, and eventually would etch on the pottery steadily. Gwen was inspired to make pottery by her mother, Mary Agnes Tafoya. She taught Gwen all the fundamentals of hand coiling traditional Santa Clara Pottery. Gwen specializes in hand coiling traditional Santa Clara pottery which she then carves and etches by hand. She gathers her natural pigments from within the hills of the Santa Clara Pueblo. Gwen cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, polishes, and fires her pottery outdoors with horse manure. She especially likes to make seed pots because she has more room to etch her favorite designs of hummingbirds or flowers on the top of the pottery. Gwen also has a special part in her heart for the wedding vase because of its meaning. Gwen signs her pottery as “Gwen Tafoya SCP”. 5 1/8" Tall, 6" Wide Suggested Retail $675.00 / Your Price: $495.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Vickie Martinez Tafoya Vickie Martinez “Koe-Sawe”, Buffalo Steps, was born into the Pueblo of Santa Clara-Tewa in 1967. Vickie was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of her ancestors of working with clay from her Mother, Barbara Martinez. She has been making pottery since 1983, when she was 15 years old. Vickie specializes in the traditional handmade black and red Santa Clara pottery. She gathers her own natural clay from the hills within the Santa Clara Pueblo. Vickie cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, carves, fires, and then polishes her pottery the traditional way. Vickie was quoted as saying: “I find carving a very challenging and rewarding experience, which I am enjoying thoroughly.” Like all good Santa Clara pottery, the high gloss on this pot was achieved by polishing the surface with a smooth stone...a very tedious process. Three and sometimes as many as five layers of slip are applied to the smooth dried work, allowing time between coats to dry, and then followed by a lubricating coat of animal fat. The fat serves two purposes: one, it allows the stone to slide smoothly over the surface and two, it keeps the slip damp. Polishing stones are highly treasured and usually passed on to descendants. This piece features the classic Avanyu water serpent design. Vickie signs her pottery as: Vickie Martinez Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo. 4" Tall , 5 1/4" Wide Suggested Retail $275.00 / Your Price: $210.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Denise Chavarria Denise is the daughter of well known potter Stella Chavarria and the granddaughter of famed potter Teresita Naranjo. Her work was reminiscent of Stella's and Teresita's for some years but in recent years she has developed her own characteristic style. She has entered Santa Fe Indian Market for many years and has won numerous awards. This hand coiled pot is signed by Denise and features her famous Avanyu design. 4 3/4" Tall, 4 1/4" Wide Suggested Retail $260.00 / Your Price: $195.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Denise Chavarria Denise is the daughter of well known potter Stella Chavarria and the granddaughter of famed potter Teresita Naranjo. Her work was reminiscent of Stella's and Teresita's for some years but in recent years she has developed her own characteristic style. She has entered Santa Fe Indian Market for many years and has won numerous awards. This hand coiled pot is signed by Denise and features her famous Avanyu design. 5 3/8" Tall, 4" Wide Suggested Retail $280.00 / Your Price: $210.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Gary Gutierrez Gary
Gutierrez, “P’aa-Ay-P’in”, or “Deer Mountain”,was born in
1967 to the Santa Clara Pueblo-Tewa. He began working with
clay at the age of 9. Through out this time he also began
to sell his art successfully. Gary was inspired to make
pottery by the Anasazi people. Gary specializes in hand making what he calls Anasazi figurines. He said, “To me they represent a time, when life was simple and balanced in this world.” Gary’s favorite one’s to mold are the figures that hold the pottery. Gary signs his pottery as: Gary Gutierrez, Santa Clara, followed by the month and year they were sculpted. 2 3/4" Tall, 6" Wide Suggested Retail $350.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Vickie Martinez Tafoya Vickie Martinez “Koe-Sawe”, Buffalo Steps, was born into the Pueblo of Santa Clara-Tewa in 1967. Vickie was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of her ancestors of working with clay from her Mother, Barbara Martinez. She has been making pottery since 1983, when she was 15 years old. Vickie specializes in the traditional handmade black and red Santa Clara pottery. She gathers her own natural clay from the hills within the Santa Clara Pueblo. Vickie cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, carves, fires, and then polishes her pottery the traditional way. Vickie was quoted as saying: “I find carving a very challenging and rewarding experience, which I am enjoying thoroughly.” Like all good Santa Clara pottery, the high gloss on this pot was achieved by polishing the surface with a smooth stone...a very tedious process. Three and sometimes as many as five layers of slip are applied to the smooth dried work, allowing time between coats to dry, and then followed by a lubricating coat of animal fat. The fat serves two purposes: one, it allows the stone to slide smoothly over the surface and two, it keeps the slip damp. Polishing stones are highly treasured and usually passed on to descendants. This piece features the classic Avanyu water serpent design. Vickie signs her pottery as: Vickie Martinez Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo. 3 3/4" Tall , 5" Wide Suggested Retail $275.00 / Your Price: $210.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Candelaria Suazo Candelaria is a full blooded Indian from the pueblos of Santa Clara and San Juan. She was inspired to begin making pottery by her mother, Santanita Suazo and her sisters: Margie Naranjo, the late Martha Huangooah, Mae Tapia and Shirley Duran. Her relatives Dolores Curran and Geri Naranjo also had a great influence on her work. She has been making pottery for the past 19 years and specializes in sgrafitto two-tone styles. She gets her clay in the pueblo of Santa Clara and hand coils all her pots. Once the pots are dried she hand polishes each one with a polishing stone and red slip. The pot is then fired outdoors in a traditional firing pit using "cow patties" and horse manure. She enjoys making pottery because she wants to keep up the traditional art of pottery making that the pueblo of Santa Clara is known for. She exhibits at the Eight Northern Pueblos Show and has won several ribbons for first, second and third places. 3 5/8" Tall, 5 1/4" Wide Suggested Retail $495.00 / Your Price: $390.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Vickie Martinez Vickie Martinez “Koe-Sawe”, Buffalo Steps, was born into the Pueblo of Santa Clara-Tewa in 1967. Vickie was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of her ancestors of working with clay from her Mother, Barbara Martinez. She has been making pottery since 1983, when she was 15 years old. Vickie specializes in the traditional handmade black and red Santa Clara pottery. She gathers her own natural clay from the hills within the Santa Clara Pueblo. Vickie cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, carves, fires, and then polishes her pottery the traditional way. Vickie was quoted as saying: “I find carving a very challenging and rewarding experience, which I am enjoying thoroughly.” Like all good Santa Clara pottery, the high gloss on this pot was achieved by polishing the surface with a smooth stone...a very tedious process. Three and sometimes as many as five layers of slip are applied to the smooth dried work, allowing time between coats to dry, and then followed by a lubricating coat of animal fat. The fat serves two purposes: one, it allows the stone to slide smoothly over the surface and two, it keeps the slip damp. Polishing stones are highly treasured and usually passed on to descendants. This large piece features the classic Avanyu water serpent design. Vickie signs her pottery as: Vickie Martinez Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo. 4 1/8" Tall, 5 1/2" Wide Suggested Retail $360.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Vickie Martinez Tafoya Vickie Martinez “Koe-Sawe”, Buffalo Steps, was born into the Pueblo of Santa Clara-Tewa in 1967. Vickie was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of her ancestors of working with clay from her Mother, Barbara Martinez. She has been making pottery since 1983, when she was 15 years old. Vickie specializes in the traditional handmade black and red Santa Clara pottery. She gathers her own natural clay from the hills within the Santa Clara Pueblo. Vickie cleans, mixes, hand coils, shapes, carves, fires, and then polishes her pottery the traditional way. Vickie was quoted as saying: “I find carving a very challenging and rewarding experience, which I am enjoying thoroughly.” Like all good Santa Clara pottery, the high gloss on this pot was achieved by polishing the surface with a smooth stone...a very tedious process. Three and sometimes as many as five layers of slip are applied to the smooth dried work, allowing time between coats to dry, and then followed by a lubricating coat of animal fat. The fat serves two purposes: one, it allows the stone to slide smoothly over the surface and two, it keeps the slip damp. Polishing stones are highly treasured and usually passed on to descendants. This piece features the classic Avanyu water serpent design. Vickie signs her pottery as: Vickie Martinez Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo. 3 3/4" Tall , 5 1/4" Wide Suggested Retail $260.00 / Your Price: $195.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Dean Haungooah Dean is from Santa Clara Pueblo and is the son of well known potter's Art Cody Haungooah and Martha Suazo. He is known for his finely detailed sgrafitto pots. This piece features an intricate Elk and Sunface design. Dean signs his work "HAUNGOOAH" and includes a detailed marking on the side. 2 1/4" Tall, 3 3/4" Wide Suggested Retail $895.00 / Your Price: $690.00 Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Karen Naranjo This lovely piece from Santa Clara artist Karen Naranjo features intricately etched Kokopelli designs on a hand made, brown tone pot. This is an older piece and comes from a private collection. There are two very small nicks on the side and it is being offered at a reduced price because of this. It is signed by the artist. 3 1/8" Tall, 4 3/4" Wide Suggested Retail $340.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Sammy Naranjo Sammy Naranjo “Okuwa Nae’ Khung Tsire” (Dark Cloud Bird) is a full blooded Tewa Indian from the Pueblo of Santa Clara. Sammy was inspired by his late mother Flora Naranjo. He began his artistic talents at the age of 12. However, he did not take it seriously until he was 18. He began to expand his talents through the traditional carved pottery, then later moved on towards Sgraffito Etched two - Tone Pottery. Today, Sammy specializes and is well known for his two tone Sgraffito etched and carved work with traditional designs. He digs up his clay in Santa Clara. He hand coils his pottery and polishes them using polishing stones. When the pot is in its final stages of creation, he fires them using horse manure. “I enjoy making pottery because I like to come up with my own traditional designs. I also find that etching my pots is a challenging and rewarding experience. My pottery is unique in the way that no other pot is the same. It is like the pottery is alive. It wants to be a certain way and no matter what I do it won’t change the outcome of what the pot wants to look like.” Sammy is related to Barbara Martinez (Birth Mother), Flora Naranjo (Mother), Glenda Naranjo (Aunt), Vickie Martinez (Sister), Chris & Manuel Martinez (Brothers). He has won awards at The New Mexico State Fair, Eight Northern Indian Arts & Crafts Show, and The Arizona State Museum. 5 3/8" Tall, 5 1/2" Wide Suggested Retail $895.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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Santa Clara Pueblo Hand Coiled Potteryby Anna & Fidel Archuleta Anna Archuleta was born in 1953 and has been making pottery since 1988. She was taught by her mother Belen Tapia (d). She specializes in stone polished redware carved bowls, jars and plates with bear claws, feather patterns, lighting and Avanyu (Water Serpent). She gathers clay from around the Santa Clara Pueblo, uses natural slips, polishing stones passed down from her mother and fires all her pottery outdoors. She is the sister of Anita Suazo. Her husband Fidel collaborates with her on the pottery. Anna does all the hand coiling and polishing and Fidel does the carving and firing. This lovely piece features Avanyu and wave designs and is signed by the artists. 6" Tall, 5 1/2" Wide Suggested Retail $999.00 / Your Price: SOLD Backed by Our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!!
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