Jemez Pueblo Pottery

Jemez Pueblo

Presenting both traditional and contemporary pottery by Jemez artists including Mary Small, Vangie Tafoya, Carol Loretto, Elston & Dena Yepa, Pauline Romero, Bertina Tosa, Geraldine Sandia, Alvina Yepa, Helen Tafoya Henderson, Bertha Gachupin, Marcella Yepa, Wilma Baca, Brenda Tafoya, Joyce Lucero, Maxine T. Yepa, Ben & Geraldine Toya, Laverne Loretto-Tosa, Betty Jean (B.J.) Fragua, Carol Gachupin, Mary Louise E. Teeyan, Dennis Daubs, Marcella Yepa, and Juanita Fragua..

How to make a Purchase

Helen Tafoya Henderson is of Jemez / San Ildefonso lineage and has been an active potter since 1987 working with polychrome and sgraffito jars, vases and bowls. All of her work is handmade, hand painted and stone polished. Her sgraffito work is truly excellent. Her favorite subject - a hummingbird - is incised on this polychrome pot .

This beautiful, polychrome and multi-surfaced piece at top, right, measures 7 inches tall by 5.5 inches wide. Your price $440 ~ Item #J171 Click here to see an enlargement.

The piece at left is perfectly round and measuring 3.25 inches with very fine incising. Your price $170 ~ Item #J229

Her work is featured in Gregory Schaaf's Southern Pueblo Pottery, Berger and Schiffer's Pueblo and Navajo Contemporary Pottery, plus in Native People's Magazine and Indian Market Magazine.She has won numerous awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market, New Mexico State Fair and the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial. This is a beautiful, graceful and well-balanced vase with multiple textures, patterns and colors. The incising is some of the finest done by any pueblo artist - a superior piece in every way.

Must see....

At right, bottom, is a really fascinating large piece with a mixture of colors, textures and shapes that come together in a perfect harmony. This is a piece that you'll never tire of looking at because it is filled with life and interaction. It measures 10 inches tall by 7.5 inches wide. Can you imagine how many hours were devoted to incising this pot? ...a real masterpiece of the genre. Your price $1,150 ~ Item #J263 Click here to see an enlargement.

Helen does a great deal of experimenting with textures, forms, colors and so on. She draws on both her San Ildefonso and Jemez lineage which gives her opportunities that many other potters don't really have. With this bottom pot you can see the San Ildefonso influence in the use of the Avanyu which has very fine feathers etched into its body. Her use of polished and mat surfaces is always intriguing and this pot commands a strong sense of flow rather than the seemingly stationary graphics that are most common.

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Benjamin Toya, in collaboration with his wife, Geraldine Toya, created this beautiful, fine line eye dazzler. He is of the Acorn Clan and has been making fine line, polychrome jars, vases wedding vases and bowls since 1985.

This is a great olla (right, top) that measures 11.5 inches tall by 10.5 inches wide - wonderful artwork and shape. Ben & Geraldine rarely make pieces this grand. Your price $660 - Item #J188

"Ben and Geraldine Toya are noted for their large fine line black-on-white with polychrome highlights. They have been rewarded for their efforts winning Best of Show and Best of pottery at the New Mexico State Fair." Gregory Schaaf, Southern Pueblo Artists: 2000 Artist Biographies. Click here to see an enlargement.

The vase at right has a flouted mouth and a great array of finely done graphics. It measures 7.5 inches tall by 5.5 inches wide. Your price $190 ~ Item #J265. Click here to see an enlargement.

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Click here to see wedding vases by Ben & Geraldine

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Dennis Daubs is of Jemez and San Ildefonso heritage and has been an active potter since 1979 working with stone polished redware Sgraffito jars, bowls and seed pots. His teacher was Juanita Fragua, a Jemez master potter known for her melon pots.

This redware, sun face seedpot at right, is a superb piece with great shape. The graphics are of an uncommonly high quality design and execution which is why we paid more for this piece. Every artist produces pieces of varying quality and we feel this is one of his very best ever. Considering the general excellence of his work this evaluation is significant. This redware seedpot features a sun face and feather motif with other Anasazi graphics. It measures 2.25 inches tall by 4.5inches wide. Your price $460 ~ Item #J212

At left is a great piece with an incised rain deer dancer on the front and feathers on the side and back. It is very well done, very attractive with deep polish, clean incising and fine shape. It measures 4.25 inches tall by 4.5 inches wide. Your price $395 ~ Item #J230.

At bottom, right, is a redware seedpot with the same motif patterns but using a lizard as the center point rather than a butterfly. This lizard is extremely well done and very creative in its graphic presentation. The pot measures 3.25 inches tall by 4.5 inches wide. Your price $350 ~ Item #J238.

Dennis has won numerous awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the New Mexico State Fair, the Heard Museum Show, and the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show. His work has been published in American Indian Art Magazine; Dr. Gregory Schaaf’s “Southern Pueblo Pottery 2,000 Artist Biographies”; “Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni” by Hayes & Blom; and Berger & Schiffer’s “Pueblo and Navajo Contemporary Pottery”. Click here to see an enlargement.

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How to make a Purchase

Betty Jean Fragua (signs B.J. Fragua) is of the Jemez Corn Clan and has been active as a potter since 1980 working with traditional polychrome and stone polished sgraffito redware and matte tanware bowls. She was taught by her famous mother, Juanita Fragua, whose work is highly valued and widely collected.

B.J.'s pots have fantastic artwork - precise and clean. The art work is extremely time intensive with some graphics being composed from thousands of tiny brush strokes. Her work is also widely collected and, like her mother, she is able to command a fair value price commensurate with her talent and years of experience.

This beautiful carved and layered pot (above, right) with buff stopper and neck measures 8 inches tall by 6 inches wide. The dark red affect is created by applying thousands of individual fine brush strokes of black. The top and bottom red lines are highly polished surfaces while the inner red lines are a matte finish. The design work is flawless and includes kiva steps, feathers and corn stalks. The form of the pot and the stopper are perfect. Your price $1,250 ~ Item #J248 Click here to see an enlargement.

This buff vase with stopper at left is less ornate that the one pictured above but no less detailed in its band of graphics on the vase's hip. A beautiful, delicate piece with narrow neck and stopper. It measures 8 inches tall by 5.5 inches wide. Your price $650 ~ Item #J247 Click here to see an enlargement.

Beginning in 1984, Betty Jean has exhibited and won numerous awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial, and the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts & Crafts Fair. Her work is included in Dr. Gregory Schaaf’s Southern Pueblo Pottery; Hayes & Blom’s Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni; Contemporary Pueblo & Navajo Pottery by Berger & Schiffer; and Lillian Peaster’s Families in Pueblo Pottery.

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