Santa Clara Pueblo Miniature Black on Black Pottery By Cresencia Tafoya

ca. 1970

.875" H x 1.25" D

Hand Crafted from Black on Black Clay with a Sunburst Motif Along Opening 

In Very Good Condition

Cresencia Tafoya (1918–1999) was a renowned potter from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, celebrated for her contributions to traditional black-on-black pottery. Born during the 1918 flu pandemic as the second of 11 children to Tomacita Gutierrez Tafoya and Cruz Tafoya, she grew up immersed in a family legacy of pottery-making. Her maternal grandmother, Pasqualita Tani Gutierrez Tafoya, was the younger sister of the influential Serafina Tafoya, making Cresencia part of one of the most storied pottery dynasties in Pueblo history. She married and raised six children—Arthur, Harriet, Annie, Pauline, and Mark Tafoya—all of whom she taught the traditional methods of coil-building, polishing, and firing pottery. Cresencia herself became a matriarch, passing down techniques that continue through her descendants, including Harriet Tafoya, Annie Baca (née Tafoya), and Pauline Martinez.

Her work exemplifies the Santa Clara tradition of blackware, a technique dating back centuries where clay is coil-built, stone-polished to a mirror-like sheen, and fired in a reduction atmosphere to achieve the signature matte and glossy black contrasts. While she created larger forms like wedding vases, polychrome redware, and sgraffito seed pots, Cresencia was particularly admired for her finely detailed black-on-black pieces, often featuring geometric patterns, avanyu (horned water serpent) motifs, kiva steps, and bear paws—symbols of healing and protection drawn from Tewa cultural heritage. She exhibited extensively, earning awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market (1978–1989) and the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts & Crafts Show, where she participated nearly until her death.