Santa Clara Pueblo Black Carved Wedding Vessel [SOLD]

Florence Browning is one of five sisters, all of whom are recognized as outstanding potters.  Her sisters are Clara Shije, Reycita Naranjo, Mary Singer and Elizabeth Naranjo and their mother was Pablita Chavarria—a family famous for blackware pottery. 

Florence worked for many years at the Indian Health Service during which time she was unable to produce much pottery.  It was only after she retired that she became well-known as a potter.  She also demonstrated pottery making in summers at Bandelier National Park.  She is published in the catalog of the exhibit One Space/Three Visions, a major tri-cultural exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum in Albuquerque in 1979, and also published in Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham.

This wedding vessel is very typical of the fine quality of her work.  The construction was meticulously accomplished and the carving of the Avanyu design is clean and precise.  The burnishing is almost mirror-like.  It is an excellent vessel.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the personal collection of Paul and Dorothy Gutierrez of Santa Clara Pueblo

Recommended Reading: Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham