Maria I. Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo Potter
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Maria I. Naranjo is considered the first potter from Santa Clara pueblo to make pottery nativity scenes, or nacimientos, in blackware. She originally made them in the Spanish style but started making them in the traditional Pueblo Indian style in the 1960s.
Pottery figures by Maria I. Naranjo (1924-2006) are incredibly hand formed and precisely stone polished.
The name Margarita Naranjo from Santa Clara Pueblo New Mexico is not a potter that's recorded in the standard published reference books. Except for one which does list a potter by that name-it appears that she was an older potter whom no one at the pueblo recalls. Several contemporary potters at Santa Clara Pueblo have stated that Margarita was Maria I. Naranjo. Margarita was an earlier name she used.
Note: Birth and Death Dates provided by her granddaughter Tammie Mirabal.
TAGS: Southwest Indian Pottery, Santa Clara Pueblo, Pottery Figurines