Santa Clara Pueblo Seated Male Storyteller with Two Children by Maria I. Naranjo [SOLD]

This pottery storyteller figurine was made by Maria I. Naranjo of Santa Clara Pueblo.  In making this figurine, Maria followed the tradition of Helen Cordero of Cochiti Pueblo in making a male adult figure.  Cordero was the potter who originally created the storyteller figurine in 1964 and she always made only male figures.

The adult male wears a colorful shirt, beige trousers and white moccasins.  His hair hangs in braids down the front. His eyes are closed and mouth open as he tells stories to the two boys sitting in his lap.  Each boy is snappily dressed. The figurine is signed in pencil on the underside.

In the early 1980s, I started working with Maria I. Naranjo (1919-2015) and she was always interested in making unique items. I first asked her if she would make for me a black train set similar to the one made by Santana Tafoya Gutierrez in the 1920s for the Museum of New Mexico.  I showed her a picture of that 3-piece train and she made one for me that was similar.

In the next few years, I asked her to make a Noah's Ark, then a wagon like those that circus companies used to display lions during a parade, a buckboard and horses with a Diné family included, and other unusual items.  Interestingly, she would only make one of each item. When I asked her to repeat an item, she refused. Other potters soon started making the train sets, particularly Paul and Dorothy Gutierrez.  

As we were starting to have annual storyteller figurine exhibits every Mother's Day weekend at the Albuquerque gallery, she began making storytellers, and then she made nacimientos for our annual Christmas exhibits.  She was a lovely person to work with. Her figures were always beautifully made and delicate.

Condition: this Santa Clara Pueblo Seated Male Storyteller with Two Children by Maria I. Naranjo is in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Albuquerque

Recommended Reading: Collections of Southwestern Pottery: Candlesticks to Canteens, Frogs to Figurines by Allan Hayes, et al.

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Pottery, Santa Clara Pueblo, Pottery Figurines, Helen Cordero, Cochiti Pueblo, Maria I. Naranjo, Paul and Dorothy Gutierrez