Santa Clara Traditional Black Bear Paw Jar [SOLD]

Virginia Ebelacker, daughter of Alcario and Margaret Tafoya, and granddaughter of Geronimo and Sara Fina Tafoya, was not a prolific potter because she had a full-time job at Los Alamos National Labs.  She worked in metallography and plastics and shaped and refined metal and plastics as a profession and was honored for her scientific contributions on both mediums.

After returning home to Santa Clara Pueblo in the evenings, she worked on pottery briefly until bedtime.  It was only after retirement from Los Alamos that she was able to be more productive in pottery making.

This jar was probably made in the 1960s. This is when the previous owner (Katherine H. Rust) was seriously collecting pottery and paintings from New Mexico artists.

Attribution:  The signature has worn off the bottom of the jar.  It was recently taken to LuAnn Tafoya and Toni Roller, independently, and each, not knowing what the other one said, identified it as the work of their sister, Virginia.  Roller prepared a letter of attribution to accompany this jar.

Condition:  the vessel is structurally in excellent condition.  The clay slip has some hairline cracks but they appear only on the slip, not through the jar.

Provenance: from the collection of Katherine H. Rust

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