Santa Clara Pueblo Black Storyteller Pottery Doll By Jo Povi

Late 20th Century

4.125" H x 3.875" L x 2.6875" W, 1.25" H x .875" D - Pot

Hand Built from Black Clay with a High Polish of an Adult in a Sitting Position Holding 4 Children with a Miniature Black Pot Loosely in Her Lap 

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition

Linda Jo'Povi Askan (also known as Jo Povi or Linda Askan) is a contemporary potter from Santa Clara Pueblo (Kha'p'oo Owingeh) in New Mexico, with Diné (Navajo) descent on one side. Her Tewa name, Jo'Povi ("Cactus Flower"), was given by her grandmother Adelaide (Lala) Sisneros. She was born in 1954, graduated from Española High School, attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, and began making pottery full-time around 1984 after working as a respiratory therapy technician.

She learned traditional coil-built pottery techniques from her mother, Marie Sisneros Askan, and her grandmother. Her sister Birdell Bourdon and daughters Diana Halsey and Rose Halsey are also potters. She gathers and prepares her own clay and fires pieces outdoors.