Santa Clara Pottery / San Ildefonso Pottery

Santa Clara / San Ildefonso Pueblo

Pueblo Pottery Maine presents both traditional and contemporary pottery by Santa Clara and San Ildefonso artists including Mary Cain, Mida Tafoya, Tina Diaz, Sammy Naranjo, Stella Chavarria, Victor and Naomi Eckleberry, Bernice Naranjo, Barbara Martinez, Martin Moquino, Corn Moquino, Denise Chavarria, Forrest Naranjo, Ron Suazo, Dusty Naranjo, Eric Sunbird Fender, Lois Gutierrez, Alice Martinez, Sharon Naranjo Garcia, Martha Appleleaf, Madeline & Adrian Naranjo, Linda Cain, Marilyn Martinez, Glenda Naranjo, Eugene Gutierrez, Gwen Tafoya, Goldenrod, Anna Archuleta, Ethel Vigil, Chris Martinez, Sherry Tafoya and Kevin Naranjo.

Margaret Gutierrez of Santa Clara Pueblo is the daughter of famed potters Lela and Van Gutierrez and sister of Luther Gutierrez (1911-1987). Margaret and Luther produced some of the most beautiful polychrome pottery to ever come out of Santa Clara winning dozens of awards and being included in every major book and magazine dealing with contemporary Native American pottery. Favorite designs were the Avanyu, pueblo dancers, rain clouds, lightening, and sky bands.

At top. left, is a two handle pot by Margaret featuring a rain or thunder bird in the unique polychrome spectrum of colors that she and Luther were so well known for. Margaret and Luther's work is highly collected and valued. This pot measures 3.5 inches tall by 3.5 inches wide. Very clean work and beautiful in its simplicity.Your price $475 ~ Item #SC326.

Margaret's work is included in Arizona Highways, Indian Arts Magazine, Gregory Schaaf's "Southern Pueblo Pottery"; Rick Dillingham's "Fourteen Pueblo Families"; Lillian Peaster's "Pueblo Pottery Families"; "Storytellers and Other Figurative Pottery" by Douglas Congdon-Martin; and "Southwest Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni" by Hayes and Blom to name just a few.

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Ursula Curran is of Santa Clara and San Juan heritage and has been a potter for several years working on miniature pots of red ware and cream. Her mother and teacher is well-known Santa Clara potter Dolores Curran who has been an active potter since 1979 working in miniature red ware/black ware and has accumulated a large number of awards from the Santa Fe Indian Market beginning in 1984. Her father is Alvin Curran, a well-know San Juan potter. Although Ursula is only 27 years old she aspires to become a master potter and has applied herself with that goal in mind. She creates her work in the traditional way which includes pit firing and gathering all the raw materials needed from the Santa Clara Pueblo area. The quality of Ursula’s stone burnishing and application of slip have already earned her a reputation for excellence. The detail of her painting on her miniatures is absolutely extraordinary especially considering that she never outlines the design before painting and the fact that each design requires several applications.

This miniature features a highly polished red ware with meticulously painted Avanyu upon the entire circumference and feather motif in the center. If you collect miniatures you’you'll want to have an early Ursula Curran in your collection because this potter has a great future before her and a natural talent that is already well developed. It measures two inchs tall by 1.5 inches wide. Your price $545 ~ Item #SC369. Please click here to see an enlargement.

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Delores Curran is of Santa Clara and San Juan heritage and has been a potter since 1979 working with miniature pots of red ware and cream. She is the wife of Alvin Curran, a well-know San Juan potter, and the mother of Ursula Curran, aunt of Kevin Naranjo and sister of Geri Naranjo.

Delores is a master potter who creates her work in the traditional way gathering all the raw materials needed from the Santa Clara Pueblo area and firing her pottery outdoors using wood. The quality of her stone burnishing and application of slip have earned her a reputation for excellence that has been acknowledged with a multitude of awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Beginning in 1984, she has won many First and Best of Division awards in several different categories including miniatures. The detail of her painting on her miniatures is absolutely extraordinary especially considering that she never outlines the design before painting and the fact that each design requires several applications. "I work at night with just a lamp. I like the silence and like to keep everything dark around me so that I can concentrate only on the piece I'm working on.....I develop the design individually as I go along. I don't have a portfolio because I don't want to copy my own designs. Everything I do is more or less one of a kind." - "Pueblo Indian Pottery" by Dr. Gregory Schaaf

This miniature features a highly polished red ware with meticulously painted Avanyu, feathers and other designs. For those who collect miniatures, a piece by Dolores is as essential as a piece by Joseph Lonewolf. It is perfection.

This piece measures 2 inches tall by 1.75 inches wide. Your price $945 ~ Item #SC329 Click here to see enlargements of this incredible miniature.

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Gary Gutierrez of Santa Clara Pueblo produced this deeply polished blackware figurative pottery depicting a Corn Maiden. It is a beautiful piece of sculpture with a graceful, flowing form plus matte and highly polished surfaces.

Gary is the son of Dorothy and Paul Gutierrez who produce the great little blackware storytellers on the next page. His work is a blend of the tradition and the contemporary and stands well as contemporary Native American art. He has won first and second place at Indian Market on several occasions as well as Best of Division in figurative pottery. He has been published in Gregory Schaaf's Southern Pueblo Pottery; Rick Dillingham's Fourteen Pueblo Families; Lillian Peaster's Pueblo Pottery Families; Storytellers and Other Figurative Pottery by Douglas Congdon-Martin;and Southwest Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni by Hayes and Blom. His work continues to gain in recognition and popularity as the monetary value of his work accelerates. In two years we suspect that his prices will be near double.

Awarded First Place in the Figures Category at the 2003 SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market.
Awarded two 1st Place Awards for Figures Categories at the 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market.

This highly refined sculpture by renowned artist Gary Gutierrez measures 7 inches tall by 3.25 inches wide with exact carving, sculpting and deepest blackware polish.Your price $495 ~ Item #SC212 SOLD

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Greg Garcia has been an active potter for over 25 years of both the Santa Clara and San Juan Pueblos. He is the grandson of Severa and Cleto Tafoya, and the son of Lydia Tafoya and Santiago Garcia. He has exhibited regularly at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show plus won several awards over the years for excellence. His work is included in Dillingham's "Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery", Schaaf's "Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies", and "Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni" by Hayes and Blom. You will love owning one of these pots. They are pure form and color - very simple and classic.

The this pot is blackware with a fluted opening and double shoulder - beautiful deep polish and also measuring 4 by 4 inches. Your price $260 - Item #SC209

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Geri Naranjo and Harriet Tafoya created this absolutely stunning pot. The design is by Geri and the pot and polishing are by Harriet - two facts we know because it is inscribed on the bottom of the pot. Geri has been a potter since1975 working in miniature sgraffito pots for which she has won numerous First, Second and Best of Division awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market beginning in 1980. Her work is included in Gregory Schaaf's "Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies"; "Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery" by Dillingham; Lillian Peaster’s "Pueblo Pottery Families", “Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni” by Hayes & Blom, Indian Market Magazine, SWAIA Quarterly and American Indian Art Magazine. Harriet Tafoya is the daughter of Crescencia Tafoya and has also won awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market at which she has exhibited since 1985. Her work is part of the Smithsonian Collection and her work has been published in Gregory Schaaf's "Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies" and Lillian Peaster’s "Pueblo Pottery Families".

This pot is a "love at first sight" kind of pot - the shape, the polish ...and the incising! The incising is very fine like you'd find on a miniature but instead it's on a regular size pot that measures 3 inches tall by 3.5 inches wide - fantastic detail and incredibly precise work. This pot is a prize to be treasured by any collector. Your price $545 ~ Item #SC347. Please click here to see an enlargement. SOLD

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Mary Cain of Santa Clara Pueblo has been an active potter since the 1930s and her eyes still shine with her enthusiasm for her work though she has ceased to make pottery at the age of 94. She was taught pottery by her grandmother, Sara Fina Tofoya and mother, Christina Naranjo. She, in turn, taught Doug Tafoya, Tina Diaz, Joy Cain, Linda Cain, Billy Cain, Warren Cain and Margie Tanin - all her children - how to make pottery and they are all highly respected potters today. She is grandmother to Autumn Borts and RoseMary Diaz. Mary Cain has won more awards, been in more exhibits and is included in more publications than we can possibly list here. She began entering her work in the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1976 and has won many awards including First. Her work has been exhibited extensively including events at the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, the Albuquerque Museum, and various private galleries.

At right, the celebration of Mary's 90th birthday with granddaughter RoseMary Diaz, the late Billy Cain (son), Mary, and her daughter, Linda Cain, mother of granddaughter Autumn Borts.

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