Jemez Pueblo Storyteller Pottery Doll By Felicia Fragua

Late 20th Century

5.25" H x 3.875" L x 3" W

Hand Coiled Woman Figure in a Sitting Position Holding Three Children and they are All Singing Signed Felicia Fragua

In Very Good Condition

Felicia Fragua (also known as Felicia Fragua Curley or Wallowing Bull) is a Jemez Pueblo potter from New Mexico, born in October 1964 to Grace L. Fragua and Felix Fragua. She is part of the well-known Fragua family of potters and began making traditional pottery around age 13, learning primarily from her mother and sister Rose (with other relatives like Emily Fragua Tsosie, Bonnie Fragua, and others also influencing her). She works with natural local clays and pigments, hand-coiling her pieces in the traditional way. Her work includes polychrome jars, bowls, nativities, mudheads, animal and human figures, and especially storytellers (often called “mother singers” or storyteller dolls). These figurative pieces typically show a seated adult (often a grandmother or parent figure, sometimes Santa Claus or animals like mice) with an open mouth, surrounded by or holding multiple children, symbolizing the oral transmission of Pueblo cultural knowledge, songs, and histories. A Fragua family trademark often includes large dots on the cheeks with smaller dots around the edges.