Black Carved Jar with Avanyu and Micaceous Slip and Sienna Rim

Dora Tse-Pé, a San Ildefonso Pueblo potter, completed this jar in 2011. She had married and moved to San Ildefonso from Zia Pueblo in 1961, and learned to change her potting skills from those of Zia to those of San Ildefonso. Fifty years later, she created this magnificent jar with a combination of polished black lower body, micaceous black design panel, clever insertion of a turquoise gemstone, and a sienna finish.

The design of the Avanyu is clean and elegant, devoid of extraneous embellishments. He wraps around the shoulder with his head overlapping the tail. The entire design band was treated with a micaceous clay slip that provides a beautiful sparkle. A large tear-drop blue turquoise gemstone serves as the eye of the Avanyu. Around the rim, Dora provided a burnished sienna finish through use of an auxiliary firing technique.

Dora Tse-Pé (1939-2022) was born at Zia Pueblo, the daughter of Candelaria Gachupin and granddaughter of Rosalie Toribio, both of whom "taught her the sacred and spiritual significance of the clay, of Mother Earth, Father Sun, and of the life-giving water. Her mother and grandmother made sure she understood the importance of these forces in creating pottery. Like Rosalie Aguilar and Rose Gonzales, a generation before, Dora married into San Ildefonso. In 1961, she married Tse-Pé, a fine potter. His mother was Rose Gonzales, who also had married into San Ildefonso, but from San Juan Pueblo." [Schaaf 2000]

The jar is signed Dora Tse-Pé San Ildefonso. It is not dated however the recorded date when it was made is 2011.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Black Carved Jar with Avanyu and Micaceous Slip and Sienna Rim is from the estate of a resident of Santa Fe who purchased it in June 2012 from Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Reference: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf. 2000.

TAGS: Popovi Da, Tony Da, Southwest Indian Pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Contemporary, Zia Pueblo, Dora Tse-Pé