Santa Clara Pueblo Carved Black Pottery By Helen Shupla

Mid/Late 20th Century

1.875" H x 2.75 D

Hand Coiled Blackware with a Deeply Carved Geometric Motif Design 

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition

Helen Shupla (c. 1918 or 1928–1985) was a renowned Santa Clara Pueblo potter, famous for her innovative carved and polished blackware, particularly her signature melon jars (also called melon bowls or pots).

Born at Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico (with Tohono O'odham/Papago heritage), Shupla was active from the mid-1940s onward. She began with traditional black-on-black pottery—a hallmark of Santa Clara Pueblo, achieved by polishing the clay and firing in a reduced-oxygen (smothered) outdoor fire that turns the vessel deep black. She also produced carved and incised designs early in her career.

Her most iconic work is the melon jar, distinguished by raised, rounded ribs that mimic a melon or gourd. Unlike many potters who carve ribs into the surface, Shupla pushed the ribs outward from the inside while the clay was still wet and plastic (often incorporating more elastic Hopi clay after marrying Hopi artist Kenneth Shupla). This technique gives her pieces a distinctive organic, fluid look, with ribs that sometimes subtly twist. The forms are hand-coiled, shaped, sanded, stone-polished to a high sheen, and traditionally fired.