Cochiti Pueblo Male Drummer Storyteller Figurine with One Child by George Cordero [SOLD]

Helen Cordero taught all her children and grandchildren how to make storyteller figurine pottery and it is often difficult to tell their work from that of their mentor.  All of them followed her style accurately. In this unique and collectible figurine, George Cordero combined the storyteller figurine and a drummer figurine.

George Cordero (1944-1990) was the father of Buffy Cordero.  He was not a prolific pottery making artist but made storyteller figurines primarily because his mother, Helen Cordero, expected him to do so. George passed away in 1990, four years before his mother passed away.  Sometimes, George collaborated with Helen and they co-signed the completed work. George signed this one alone, so it is assumed he was the sole maker of it.

The male figurine is wearing a red shirt with stripes on the arms.  He has a cross necklace around his neck and a concho belt around his waist.  He holds a flat drum in his left hand and a drum stick in his right hand. On his right leg sits a young boy.

Condition: there was a minor crack on the left foot resulting from a small rock forcing its way out of the clay.  It has been professionally repaired.

Provenance: this Cochiti Pueblo Male Drummer Storyteller Figurine with One Child by George Cordero was previously in the collection of a family from Albuquerque, now from a client to whom we sold it in 2015.

Recommended Reading: The Pueblo Storyteller: Development of a Figurative Ceramic Tradition by Barbara Babcock