This small pot was hand coiled and stone polished to a beautiful shine.  Signed by the artist.

SANTA CLARA BLACK POTTERY EAGLE

Paul and Dorothy Gutierrez have been married since 1965, and have two sons, Paul Gutierrez Jr. and Gary Gutierrez. Dorothy was born in 1940 and is a Navajo woman. Her mother is a weaver who weaves belts. Paul Sr. was born is 1936 and is a Tewa Pueblo Indian. They are very well known for their Black Mudhead Figurines. The mudheads are now what we call "Koshares" and they take part in the Indian ceremonial dances as clowns. They are made to put a smile on your face and to remind you not to take life so seriously all of the time. Paul's parents were both well know potters by the names of Lela and Vann Gutierrez. Paul has two sisters. Margaret Gutierrez, in her late fifties, to out knowledge still makes pottery. She specializes in polychrome bowls and figurines. Paul's late sister, Pauline Gutierrez, taught him the art of pottery making. Paul's niece, Stephanie Naranjo, also makes polychrome figurines. The Gutierrez family biography can be found in many books including "The fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery," by Rick Dillingham.

 Size: 2 3/4" Tall, 2 3/4" Wide

by Paul and Dorothy Gutierrez

Alfred started potting at the age of 16 alongside his mother. All of his pots are made in the traditional methods and fired outdoors. His stone polishing is some of the best we have ever seen.

This lovely piece features Alfred's feather design. It is signed Alfred Salazar, Santa Clara.

Size: 2 3/4" Tall, 2" at widest point

Alfred started potting at the age of 16 alongside his mother. All of his pots are made in the traditional methods and fired outdoors. His stone polishing is some of the best we have ever seen.

This lovely piece features Alfred's Sun design. It is signed Alfred Salazar, Santa Clara.

Size:  1 3/4" Tall, 2 1/4" at widest point

Erik Fender, Than Tsideh “Sunbird”,  was born in 1970 into the San Ildefonso Pueblo.  He specializes in traditional and contemporary blackware pottery.

He started the art of pottery making by watching his grandmother, Carmelita Dunlap, as she would hand coil and hand paint her traditional black -on-black pottery.  As he grew older, he started to experiment more with various techniques and clays.  His style progressed from the traditional black-on-black pottery to an innovated two tone, black-on-red, separated by sgraffito low relief carving.  He also makes beautiful polychrome pots and presently he specializes in green-on-black pots.  He harvests his clumps of raw clay from the sacred grounds within the San Ildefonso Pueblo, then, Erik breaks the clumps of clay to a fine powder substance and mixes it with volcanic ash and water, once that process is complete he hand coils snake like forms and begins to construct his vessel.  When the vessel is built it is set out to dry. Once it has dried he sands it down to smooth out the surface. He stone polishes and hand paints his designs with all natural paints which are all boiled from native vegetation grown in the Pueblo.  He is related to Martha Appleleaf Fendor (mother), Carmelita Dunlap (grandmother), Linda Dunlap (aunt), Jeannie Mountain Flower Dunlap (aunt), and Carlos Dunlap (grandfather). He signs his pottery as Than Tsideh which means “Sunbird”.

This spectacular piece features Erik's older style, reminiscent of his grandmother, Carmelita Dunlap's, pots with beautiful shape and clean paint work.

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.