Santa Clara Pueblo Pottery Bear By Jennifer Tafoya

ca. 1990

2.125" H x 1" x 1.875" W

Hand Coiled with Etched Feather Motif and Geometric Design on Back with Bear Paws

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition

Jennifer Tafoya is a highly regarded contemporary artist from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. She is the daughter of renowned potters Ray Tafoya and Emily Suazo-Tafoya, and she has built on her family's legacy while innovating within traditional techniques. Her work often features intricate sgraffito (fine-line incising or etching into the clay surface), realistic depictions of wildlife (including mountain animals, fish, birds, and sometimes prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs), combined with traditional Pueblo geometric symbols, feathers, and other motifs. She uses native clay, hand-coils her pieces, polishes them meticulously, traditionally fires them (often resulting in blackware or redware), and applies natural clay slips and pigments for color.