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.

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Juanita Fragua is of the Corn Clan and has been an active potter since the 1950s. She was taught by her mother, Rita Magdalena, and has taught several prominent potters including Clifford Fragua, Glendora Fragua, Barbara Jean Chavez Fragua, and Dennis Daubs. She is respected as a leader in the Jemez pottery revival and the promotion of the arts. She began winning awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1980 and continues to do so.

Juanita is considered a Jemez master potter. She signs her work on the inner rim and on the bottom of each work as well with her signature arrow. The top pot, left, is a very fine piece -buff melon red/black trim. It measures 6.5 inches tall and 6 inches wide. Your price $310 ~ Item #J190

At left, is a fine pot with square mouth, wonderful lines and polychrome designed. It measures 5.25 by 5 inches. Your price $185 - Item #J277 SOLD

Click here to see Juanita's beautiful wedding vases.

Juanita is probably the only person remaining today at Jemez that creates swirl melon pots of this style by using her fingers to push and form the clay from the inside of the pot outward into these elegant and perfect swirls. Her clays and colors are always natural and her black paint is a secret that creates a unique tone of black that no one has been able to reproduce.

The pot at left is a very rare form these days that was more common only five years ago. It is called a "double pot" for the simple reason that it is two separate pots combined. In this case it is one of Juanita's beautiful butterfly motifs combined with a buff mellon pot. It is a beauty and very collectible because of its creator as well as its wonderful form and crisp graphics. It measures 10 inches tall by 6 inches wide. Your price $425 ~ Item #J266. Click here to see an enlargement.

This is a vintage polychrome, rich red melon swirl pot of the finest quality with square mouth that Juanita made several years ago. It has been in our personal collection since it was made and is in perfect condition. Initially chosen because it was the best we had seen and still is, plus it is larger than the usual melon pot she produces. It measures 6.5 inches tall by 6.5 inches wide with a fine polish, excellent shape and detail. Note she is the best of the decreasing few who still know how to push the melon ribs out of thin clay using fingers rather than the contemporary technique of cutting ribs from the outside into thick clay. Worthy of any collection. Your price $525 ~ Item #J280. Click here to see an enlargement.

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Note from a customer:
"I have no idea why it took me so long to add one of Juanita's melon bowls to my collection, but the one you sold to me is among the finest items I own, in terra cotta or otherwise. It is beautiful and formed with such skill and perfection that few other pots can be near it without appearing a bit anemic. I studied the pot for quite some time and have to tell you: even the interior of the piece is striking and powerful. The imprint of Juanita's hands and fingers are so evident in the interior formation of the swirls! Her vision, molding and gentle persuasion of the moist clay are fired into the interior of the pot and will remain there, as a testimonial to her skills as an artist. No other piece I own has such intrigue!" J.L. ~ Dallas, Texas

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Dena and Elston Yepa are a young couple that together are creating some fine very contemporary pottery.

The piece at top is a very fine bowl with a very detailed feather placed horizontally - excellent detail and flow plus overall shape. These are graphically subtle pieces but their aesthetic value is bold when held in hand. You won't be disappointed. This bowl measures 3.5 inches tall by 6.5 inches wide. Your price $295 ~ Item #J215 Click here to see an enlargement.

Dena is from Santo Domingo Pueblo where her parents are the well known jewelers Percy and Charlotte Reano.

Elston is from Jemez Pueblo where he started potting at the age of 10-12. He was taught by his parents Lawrence and Lupita Yepa and his grandmother Martha Toya.

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Alvina Yepa is of the Sun Clan and has been an active potter since 1982 working with stone polished redware jars, melon bowls and large incised ollas. She was taught traditional pottery making by her mother, Felipita Yepa. She has won many awards including Best of Division, 1st and others at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Museum Show, and the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup.

This piece is a fantastic pot with excellent carving, incising, and a beautiful redware stone polish - wonderful shape, a very high quality piece. It measures4.5 inches tall by 5.5 inches wide. Your price $525 ~ Item #J191. SOLD

Alvina's work has been published in Indian Market Magazine (1989); American Indian Art Magazine (1996); in Gregory Schaaf's "Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2000 Artist Biographies" and Berger & Schiffer's book "Pueblo and Navajo Contemporary Pottery".

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Carol Loretto (signs C. G. Loretto) has been an active Jemez potter since 1977 working with polished cream and black-on-redware jars, bowls and miniatures. She was taught traditional pottery making by her mother Nanette Loretto. Her sister, Geraldine Sandia, is a highly acclaimed Jemez potter specializing in wedding vases.

At top is a beautiful tall polychrome with very rich colors measuring 6.75 inches tall by 4.75 inches wide. Your price $240 ~ Item #J255

No one does black on redware like Jemez Pueblo potters and we consider Carol to be one of the best at this genre. Her pots have excellent shape, the redware polish is deep and the graphics crisp and solid - beautiful depth and contrast. We're very pleased to have her work. Carol's work has been published in American Indian Art Magazine (Spring,1990); Gregory Schaaf's "Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2000 Artist Biographies"; Hayes & Blom's "Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni"; and Berger & Schiffer's book "Pueblo and Navajo Contemporary Pottery". SOLD

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Bertina Tosa has been an active potter since 1973 and works in polychrome polished redware jars, bowls, vases and Storytellers. She is the daughter of Mary S. Toya; sister of Elizabeth Medina and sister-in-law of Zia potter Marcellus Medina. This polychrome pot measures 5 inches tall by 6.25 inches wide. Your price $135 ~ Item #J258.

Bertina uses local clay, hand coils and paints, and fires her pottery outdoors with cedar chips. Her work is beautiful, balanced and plush with terraced clouds, kiva steps, feathers, fine line rain and leaves. Classic Jemez. She is one of our favorites. Included in Gregory Schaaf's "Southern Pueblo Pottery: 2000 Artist Biographies" and other publications.

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