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Vase

Margaret Tafoya (Santa Clara, 1904–2001), vase
1962
Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico
Clay
25 x 22 cm
Purchased from Mrs. Kathleen Peters
24/3736

This Santa Clara carved redware jar was by Margaret Tafoya around 1950. Margaret learned the art of pottery-making from her mother, Sarafina Tafoya. In the 1920s elaborately carved pottery became popular at Santa Clara, one of the pueblos of the Rio Grande. This may have been in response to a change in material after Santa Clara’s traditional clay source was lost in a landslide; the new clay required a thicker-walled vessel. Today Santa Clara has become known for its carved redware and blackware, as well as for incised decoration.

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