Diné (Navajo) Small Drum Jar [SOLD]

“Louise Goodman, who was born on Christmas day 1937, is one of the traditional folk artists, those whose work lies somewhere between traditional pottery and the art pottery that was to follow.  She was among the first to realize that the demand for her utilitarian ware had come to an end and that something had to be done to save the art form.  Goodman was also ‘one of the ladies’ to follow Bill Beaver from Shonto to Sacred Mountain.  ‘I talked to Beaver and later to Jan Musial and Jan Bell,’ she relates, ‘and they said [to] make something different.  So I did and I brought ‘em to Bill Beaver, and the things that sold—I made ‘em back [repeated popular items so that Beaver could keep them in stock].’

“The Goodmans (Louise and Eddie) have seven children.  While several of the children have made pots, only their married daughter, Virginia Shortman, is well known for her pottery.  The Goodman track leads west from the now-abandoned trading post at Cow Springs over the hazy, rose-colored peaks of Monument Valley.  The Goodman house appears to float on an ocean of abandoned cars and trucks, protected by a pack of yapping dogs.  Goodman’s pottery is made in a closet-sized studio filled with materials, assorted tools, and pots neatly wrapped in newspaper awaiting transport to Sacred Mountain.  Most of the recent pots are signed with her initials, ‘LRG.’” Rosenak, 1994

This jar is of the traditional Diné style, made prior to the market-influenced wares.  It has a clay rope around the neck of the jar with the ceremonial break traditional to all Diné pottery.  It is incised with the initials on the underside.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the personal collection of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, collectors and authors of Navajo folk art.

Recommended Reading:  The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art by Chuck and Jan Rosenak