Santa Clara Large Black Double Shoulder Bear Paw Jar by Margaret Tafoya [SOLD]

Margaret Tafoya and her entire family spent every summer—Memorial Day to Labor Day—from 1952 until 1962 at The Royal Gorge near Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they would perform dances for and sell pottery to tourists.  Margaret did not make pottery on-site but took with her pottery she had made in advance.

It was after this decade that she began making larger vessels.  Her children and grandchildren had grown up and most had moved from the pueblo.  Margaret now had less family demands and more time to herself, although the adult children who were still living at Santa Clara would go by her house every day for lunch and Margaret always prepared a feast for them.  It was a wonderful get-together for the family and a good reprieve from laboring over pottery all day without a break.

Already an accomplished potter, Margaret blossomed even more in the decade of the 1960s.  She was receiving awards at Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial and at Santa Fe Indian Market.  She produced more large vessels than before.

The mid-20^th century was the time Margaret began these double-shoulder jars with bear paw designs.  Each required more than a week just to build from the first coil to the finished jar, not including additional time to sand, slip, polish and fire.  When completed, each provided her with about $150.  I recall visits to Price's All Indian Shop in Albuquerque Old Town in the early 1960s and Jim Price had a hallway lined with these jars and they were priced at $300 each.

These double-shoulder bear paw design water jars and the very large rounded storage jars with bear paws are the signature pieces of Margaret Tafoya.  She generally made only one or two large storage jars a year but made more of the water jars, particularly in the 1960s and 70s.

A large number of these water jars were made into table lamps in the 1960s.  That is the case with this one.  Fortunately, the wire for the lamp ran outside the vessel and draped down the back of the jar, eliminating the necessity to drill a hole in the pottery.  We had a very closely matched pair of these jars.  The other one was our item #25546.

Condition:  the jar appears to be in original condition with the expected amount of insignificant scratches and minor abrasions, none of which is noticeable.

Provenance: from the family estate of Hilda Street, formerly the owner of The Streets of Taos Gallery in Santa Fe. 

Recommended Reading:  Born of Fire: The Pottery of Margaret Tafoya by Charles King