Christina Naranjo Santa Clara Pueblo Polished Black Pottery Jar [SOLD]

This stone-polished black jar by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Christina Naranjo is incredibly beautiful in its state of plainness, that is, without any painted or carved design.  The rounded body, converting to a concave neck, is graceful and elegant.  The jar needs nothing more to enhance its beauty.

One of the difficulties in finishing a jar like this is the stone polishing  procedure. The burnishing must not be interrupted until the entire vessel is completed—a task that may include several members of a family taking turns.  In a jar with carved designs, portions of the jar may be polished within a carved section.  Each carved section can be polished independently, but in one like this, where there are no points of division, the entire vessel must be polished without stopping.

The bottom of the jar is signed Christina Naranjo Santa Clara Pueblo.

Christina Naranjo (1892-1980) was the daughter of Sara Fina & Geronimo Tafoya, and the sister of Margaret and Camilio Tafoya.  She was the mother of Teresita Naranjo and Mary Cain, and the great-grandmother of Tammy Garcia and Autumn Borts-Medlock. Like her family members, Christina used traditional methods and native clay to create polished blackware.  Her works are included in museum collections around the country.

Condition: good condition with a few abrasions and scratches, mostly around the rim and the jar’s widest point. No chips or cracks.

Provenance: this Christina Naranjo Santa Clara Pueblo Polished Black Pottery Jar is from the collection of a gentleman from Santa Fe

Recommended Reading:  Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham

Relative Links: Santa Clara Pueblo, Mary Cain, Pueblo Pottery, Sara Fina Tafoya, Margaret Tafoya, Camilio Tafoya, Christina Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo Potter