Cochiti Pueblo Turtle Pottery By Snowflake Flower

ca. 1988

2.125" H x 4.5" L x 2.75" W

Hand Made from Clay of a Small Turtle on the Back of a Larger Turtle Signed "Turtle" Snowflake Flower Cochiti 1988

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition with Some Missing Paint on Small Rider Turtle

Snowflake Flower (Stephanie C. Rhoades / Estephanita Cordero, 1931–2018) was a Cochiti Pueblo potter known for traditional hand-coiled figurative pottery, including storytellers, nativities (nacimientos), animals, and other sculptures. She was born into Cochiti Pueblo (New Mexico) in December 1931, the daughter of Eluterio and Berina Cordero. Her grandmother was Estephanita Herrera (a potter), and her sister is the noted storyteller potter Ada Suina; she was also related to potter Mary Martin (cousin). She earned a BS in Education from the University of New Mexico (around 1985) and began making pottery in the late 1970s after her children were grown, learning traditional methods rather than using commercial materials or a kiln.