Santa Clara Pueblo Polished Black Pottery Bowl by Nathan Youngblood

Santa Clara Pueblo artist Nathan Youngblood chose to leave this pottery bowl void of decoration and to let the beautiful dark black burnishing serve that purpose. There is beauty in such a vessel shape, in the dark black mirror reflection, and in the burnishing to a high luster.

The jar is signed with the name of the artist but there is no date of when it was made. It is quite likely that it dates to the late 1970s, as that was a period when Nathan produced what may be called understated pottery-understated not being a negative term but a term of accomplishment.

Reference: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf. 

TAGS: Santa Clara Pueblo,Santa Fe, Pottery, Margaret Tafoya, Mela Youngblood, Nancy Youngblood, Nathan Youngblood, Santa Clara Pueblo Potter