Cochiti Pueblo 15-Piece Pottery Nacimiento [SOLD]

Felipa Trujillo served a long apprenticeship in the pottery making craft.  For most of her early life she helped her mother, Stephanita Herrera.  It was not until 1960, after her mother died, that Felipa started making pottery on her own.  She made bowls and the vessels with lizard spouts as her mother had done, but soon she was making more figures than bowls.

Felipa said that around 1969 some people who knew her work asked if she would make nacimientos, and she said she would try.  At first, she made Spanish-style sets where the people wore crowns, and the Virgin Mary wore an all-white dress.  Then, she started making Indian-themed sets, such as this one.

Felipa had attended Saint Catherine’s School in Santa Fe, a school run for Indian students by nuns of the Catholic Church.  She married Paul Trujillo and they had six children and adopted another son.

This nacimiento was made in 1975 and purchased by a Santa Fe family from the Museum Shop of the Museum of New Mexico.  It was photographed and published in the first edition book of Nacimientos: Nativity Scenes by Southwest Indian Artisans, written by Guy and Doris Monthan and published in 1979.  Two additional angels by Trujillo have been added to the original set.

The commentary in the book regarding this set is as follows:

"One of the distinctive features of Felipa Trujillo's Nativities is her cradle, a unique interpretation of the Indian cradleboard. It appears in most of her sets unless she has a request for what she calls her ‘Spanish style,' the traditional European crib of wood with crossed legs. She usually includes one of her Pueblo-style angels for which she is noted. She says, ‘The Wise Men bring pottery and the shepherds carry a lamb and a watermelon.' This set was featured in the December 1976 issue of New Mexico magazine. [Owners] Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Davis, Santa Fe, New Mexico."

Condition: this Cochiti Pueblo 15-Piece Pottery Nacimiento is very good condition

Provenance: from the estate of the original purchasers, Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. Davis, Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed through the family

Reference: Nacimientos: Nativity Scenes by Southwest Indian Artisans by Guy and Doris Monthan.  This Nacimiento is listed in this book on page 41.   Images seen here are from this book.

Felipa Trujillo of Cochiti Pueblo - Image Source Unknown