Cochiti Pueblo Male Storyteller Figurine by Helen Cordero [SOLD]

What is known today as a Storyteller figurine had its beginning in 1964 from the hands of Cochiti Pueblo potter Helen Cordero.  Alexander Girard, the noted architect and folk art collector, saw a figurine by Cordero at a Santo Domingo feast day arts and crafts booth and requested that she make more and larger ones and bring them to him.  He continued to encourage her to make larger ones with more children.  When Cordero began thinking about his requests, she made a male storyteller with several children based on her remembering that her grandfather was a storyteller at the pueblo. Her creation, based on her grandfather, was the beginning of the storyteller figurine tradition at Cochiti Pueblo.  In the five decades since her creation, the storyteller figurine tradition has blossomed.

Today, many potters at almost all the pueblos make storyteller figurines, some male and some female, but Cordero continued only making male storytellers because of the connection to her grandfather.  She never made a female storyteller. Her female figurines are called Singing Mother, Hopi Maiden or other names. Cordero used to say that the other potters who made female storytellers didn't understand her intent.

As Helen aged, and her husband and son passed away, it was more difficult for her go gather clays and plants needed for painting the figurines.  By the early 1990s, she found it necessary to use commercial paint on her figurines.  This large storyteller is one of the examples of her use of commercial paint.  The adult figurine has 10 children attached on his legs, arm, shoulder and back in typical Cordero fashion. 

Because of the stigma associated with using materials other than native ones, most potters find it necessary to offer such items at a reduced price from their all-native-material objects.  This was the situation with Cordero, too.  At that time in Helen’s life, she would bring her figurines to Adobe Gallery (when we were in Albuquerque) and offer them at a much reduced price.

This storyteller figurine, if painted with native paints, would command a price of over $15,000, but because it was completed with commercial paints, it is priced at half that value.  A positive way to appreciate this is to understand that Helen Cordero was a dedicated potter who loved what she was doing and was not interested in “retiring” but was determined to continue in her career.  She did what she needed to do to continue what she loved.  This figurine is her work, even if slightly modified from her earlier works, but remains a legacy to her talent.  It is signed Helen Cordero, Cochiti N. Mex on the underside.  It is a perfect example of the work of Helen Cordero at the end of her career.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from a gentleman in Colorado

Recommended Reading: The Pueblo Storyteller by Barbara Babcock