ADA SUINA Male Storyteller Pottery Figurine with 6 Children [SOLD]

Cochiti Pueblo artist Ada Suina has a pottery style that is immediately recognizable as her work.  One does not need to look at the signature to determine her work.  This male storyteller has long black hair with a headband.  His mouth is very much in the talking phase or perhaps singing phase.  His pants are the traditional orange slip color but his vest is lighter in color, most likely from a mixture of the orange and cream slips.  The six children are in every imagined position—clutching to his shoulder, climbing up his chest, snuggled in his arm, truly relaxed on his legs and hanging on to a foot.

Ada Suina left the painted areas in a matte finish but polished the cream slip on his face.  This ADA SUINA Male Storyteller Pottery Figurine with 6 Children was purchased by us from Ada in 1981 and sold to the current owner, from whom we now have it back. It is signed and in original condition.

Ada Suina (b.1930) resumed making pottery figurines for a few years after several years of not doing so following the death of her husband, Tony Suina.  She relied so much on his help in digging the clay and working it to a point where she could form the figurines.  Now, at age 90, she is no longer making pottery.  She was not displaying pottery at the 2015 Santa Fe Indian Market.

Relative Links:  Cochiti Pueblo, Stephanie C. Rhoades (Snowflake Flower), Virginia Naranjo, pottery making, pottery figurines, Ada Cordero Suina, Cochiti Pueblo Potter