Very Large Kewa Black-on-Red Lidded Jar [SOLD]

Robert Tenorio has been a student of pueblo pottery for a number of years, studying professionally at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and on his own. He has studied styles, clays, slips, designs and forms. He has mastered the techniques of producing functional, useable pottery for his own use and the use of other members of the pueblo.

He is indisputably one of the finest potters of the 20^th century from Kewa Pueblo. He has never stopped experimenting, learning, and trying. He has tried numerous plants as a source for the black paint and numerous clays for the slip. Some worked, some did not, but he has never stops experimenting.

This lidded storage jar features very traditional Kewa designs outlined in black paint and appearing in the polished creamy red slip. Tenorio’s attention to detail and his careful execution of the painted design are apparent. The jar is signed by the artist and is in original excellent condition.

It is truly amazing to look back at the pottery we have featured of Tenorio’s over the last 30 years and see how creative he has been with shapes and designs. One would think that an artist would run out of design choices after that many years, but Tenorio keeps on creating new ones yet ones that are steeped in Kewa Pueblo tradition. He is a master artisan.

Provenance: ex. coll. Richard M. Howard, Santa Fe collector and art dealer.