Santa Clara Pueblo Polychrome Pottery By Annie

ca. 2000

1.625" H x 2.625" D

Hand Coiled Red Pot with Triangular Opening and a Painted Geometric Design Signed Annie Santa Clara Pueblo 

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition

Annie Baca (b. 1941) is a traditional Santa Clara Pueblo potter known primarily for finely painted, highly polished black-on-black (and some red-on-red) pottery, often in miniature sizes, rather than polychrome.
She was born to Cresencia and Carmilita Tafoya of Santa Clara Pueblo. Her siblings include Mark Tafoya, Harriet Tafoya, and Pauline Martinez (who married into the San Ildefonso pottery tradition of Maria Martinez’s family). She learned pottery in a household of potters and is noted for painted (not carved) designs on well-polished surfaces. Common motifs include the avanyu (water serpent), feathers, clouds, kiva steps, rainclouds, and geometric patterns. Her sister’s connection to San Ildefonso may have influenced some stylistic cross-pollination between the pueblos.