Santo Domingo Historic Bowl Painted by Pablita Velarde [SOLD]

Pablita over-painted this Santo Domingo Pueblo serving bowl during World War II when her husband was working for a defense contractor. Money was tight, her paintings were not selling well, and painting supplies were increasingly hard to pay for.

Pablita had been selling paintings to the well-known Indian arts dealer, Nattie Wheeler, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Pablita told Nattie of her frustration at the slow sales of paintings and her need to generate more income. Nattie suggested that she try her hand at pottery.

Pablita’s sister gave her this Santo Domingo bowl and Pablita painted the Santa Clara legend of the bears leading the Santa Clara people to water. Apparently, she painted a similar bowl around the same time, but neither one sold, and, because of that, Pablita didn’t make any more. She kept this one until 1974 when she finally sold it to the current owner who was a good friend of hers. The whereabouts of the second bowl is unknown.

The bowl is in extraordinary condition and has an awesome patina to the surface. Pablita scraped away a little of the patina so she could paint her name on the bowl. This is an extremely rare piece of art by Pablita Velarde.