The Zuni Knifewing is a symbol associated with the sky. It is a supernatural being in bird form that is very significant for the Zuni people. For public use, its design was probably altered in order not to offend traditional Zuni people.  It is a very popular design motif used in Zuni jewelry beginning as early as the 1930s.

Read more about these earrings here..

The buckle is stamped with a capital letter W or M within what appears to be a horseshoe symbol with the letter B on its side.  I have been unable to identify to whom this hallmark belongs.  The buckle is also stamped STERLING SILVER.  This Southwest Indian Jewerly buckle is designed in the manner of a traditional concha belt with outward rays in repoussé form and a raised diamond in the center.  The artist's hallmark is stamped on the back of the diamond.  There is stamping around the outer edges of the buckle.

Read more about this buckle here..

Tom Knapp casts his own bronzes in the backyard of his studio, as part of a neighborhood "Pour In" that has been described in New Mexico Magazine. His series of contemporary American Indian ceremonial dancers was featured in Art West, which quoted Knapp as claiming that "vitality, movement, is the most important thing in sculpture, not the detail." His work is in five public collections and he is listed in Who's Who in American Art.

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Cochiti Pueblo has a long history of producing figurative pottery. It reached its prime in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. There was a strong revival in the early 1970s with the production of storyteller figurines. Some potters at Cochiti expanded beyond the traditional storyteller figurines. Seferina Ortiz was one of them.

Read more about this storyteller here..

In the decade of the 1950s, Margaret Tafoya (1904 - 2001) Maria Margarita Tafoya - Corn Blossom, with the help of her husband, Alcario, mastered the techniques of pottery production.  They had raised ten children to adulthood and numerous grandchildren too.  She had taught all of her children the techniques of pottery making.  With their children grown and self-sufficient, she could concentrate on perfecting her techniques.  She made very large storage jars-a feat most potters would not attempt.  She made most of these in the 1950s and 1960s, and then tapered off as she got older.  She then made smaller items.

Read more about this pottery here..

Ada Suina resumed making pottery figurines a few years ago after several years of not doing so following the death of her husband.  She relied so much on his help in digging the clay and working it to a point where she could form the figurines. Now, at age 85, she has to do everything by herself, therefore it is taking significantly more time to complete a piece. She is not very actively making pottery at this time. She was not displaying pottery at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 2015.

Read more about this Nacimiento set here..

Once the group of Laguna Pueblo families, who had split from their native village, settled at Isleta Pueblo in a village they named Oraibi in 1879, they began to produce a large quantity of tourist pieces of pottery, sized down in scale to make it easy for the travelers to carry in their luggage.

Read more about this smoking pipe here..

Large water jars and functional bowls were made for use at the pueblo.  This water jar is typical of the size that was made for pueblo use although such jars did find their way to the train station and into the laps of the train travelers.  The potter of this jar took special care to paint an extraordinary design consisting of large amounts of fine lines, orange bars around the rim and red flowers inside a "Rain Bird" element.  This is an amazingly beautiful example of the finest work from Isleta Pueblo at the turn of the last century.

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Prior to 1880, potters at Isleta Pueblo made plain red pottery that was devoid of design or decoration.  The poor quality red clay at Isleta was not suitable for making high-quality thin-walled pottery.  Pottery from Isleta of that time is not in large quantity in any museum collection because it was not considered worthy of such.  When one looks at it today, however, it is amazingly beautiful in its red purity and simplicity.

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This seated female storyteller figurine with her eyes closed and her mouth open is beautifully dressed in a highly-decorated blouse over which she wears the traditional pueblo dress.   She has a tableta on her head and is wearing high-top moccasins.  Her dress is covered at the waist with a belt.  Each of the three little girls is similarly dressed and each has her eyes closed and mouth open in the same manner as the adult.

Read more about this storyteller here..

What is known today as a Storyteller Figurine had its beginning in 1964 from the hands of Cochiti Pueblo potter Helen Cordero.  Alexander Girard, the noted architect and major folk art collector, saw a figurine by Helen at a Santo Domingo feast day arts and crafts booth and requested that she make more and larger ones and bring them to him.  At the time, these were simple human figurines. 

When Cordero began thinking about his requests, she made a male figurine and added a child in its lap.  He liked it and asked her to make more, make them larger, and add more children. Later, based on her remembering that her grandfather was a storyteller at the pueblo, she made larger figurines and added more children in remembrance of him.  Her creation, based on her grandfather, was the beginning of the storyteller figurine tradition at Cochiti Pueblo.

Read more about this storyteller here..

This small seed jar is as intricate as Moroccan mosaic tile work but even more detailed and miniaturized.  It is amazing to examine this seed jar with magnification and see the perfection in the application of all the very small triangles, dots, feathers, lines and other combinations of elements.

Forty-two year old Wallace Nez has set the standard for contemporary Navajo pottery.  He produces pottery in the traditional manner by gathering and processing natural clay.

Read more about this pot here..

In the early days of the 20^th century, La Fonda Hotel, at the end of the Santa Fe Trail, situated on the Santa Fe Plaza, displayed paintings in their guest rooms by New Mexico Indian painters of the period.  These original paintings were removed in the early 1960s-probably because their values had increased but justified as a result of remodeling.  The paintings were sold at that time and, occasionally, one or more appears on the market, usually identified by the frame, if the frame had not been changed.  This painting by Romando Vigil (1902-1978) Tse Ye Mu - Falling Cloud has the indication that it was one of the ones in La Fonda, in that in the lower left, in pencil, is marked R-320 94-A.  Now, of course, this is speculation that it was in room 320 in La Fonda but we have verified that La Fonda has a room #320.  It is not in the original La Fonda frame.

Read more about this painting here..

Romando Vigil (1902-1978) Tse Ye Mu - Falling Cloud must have attended Shalako on one or more occasions and painted this reminder of his visit.  He presented two of the ten-foot tall Shalako from memory as neither sketching nor photographing during the ceremony is permitted. 

Read more about this painting here..

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh - Little Standing Spruce blazed a trail and was at the forefront of Indian-influenced art and this acrylic on board painting is a perfect example of her particular talent and skills. This amazing work is deeply rooted and inspired by her Indian culture in its subject matter. With an effortless grace she uses modern materials and techniques to bring her history into the modern age with this intricate composition.

Read more about this painting here.

The Koosa clown portrayed by Pablita Velarde (1918-2006) Tse Tsan - Golden Dawn in this painting is, like many of her works, a subject that used to appear at the *Tewa Pueblos [Nambé Pueblo, Pojoaque Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh (formerly known as San Juan Pueblo), Santa Clara Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo] but may not at this time. They are part of the history she was so fond of and that was relayed to her by Old Grandfather the Storyteller.

Read more about this painting here..

Adobe Gallery is pleased to announce our new exhibit

Pablita Velarde & Helen Hardin:

Tradition & Innovation

Opening Reception - 4pm to 6pm, Friday January 29^th

Please join us for light refreshments

Click here to view this show

Working in the studio she built herself and primarily working with pigments she made herself, the art of Pablita Velarde is mesmerizing. Her art simultaneously honors a faithfulness to her people and culture while showcasing her own unique style. The art of Helen Hardin depicts the dichotomy of her Indian and non-Indian upbringing. She managed to capture her native heritage while departing from the Studio style of her predecessors, including her mother, Pablita. On display will be original works from both artists.

The paintings are on display Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm until April 30^th, 2016

All items available for sale via email info@adobegallery.com or  

phone 505-955-0550

Ranger sets traditionally include a buckle, a single or pair of belt guides and a belt tip.  This set is missing the tip which, fortunately, is the least important part of a ranger set.  We believe this is Navajo in origin based on the silver work.  Small round turquoise stones encircle the buckle edge and there are three stones on each belt guide.

Read more here..

Cochiti Pueblo potters are responsible for providing hundreds of pottery figurines as early as 1880 to satisfy a demand for "Indian curios," a term coined by merchants in Santa Fe for "curiosities."  It is not likely that the Cochiti potters dreamed up the scheme on their own but most likely that the merchants needed something unique, mysterious, ceremonial or perhaps just mockingly funny to sell to the influx of tourists arriving on the AT&SF rail line that made its way to New Mexico in 1880.  Even Tesuque Pueblo potters were encouraged to make Rain God figurines, something that did not even exist in their culture but was probably from the fertile mind of Jake Gold, a Santa Fe merchant, and probably based on pre-Columbian figures from Mexico.

Read more about this male figurine here..

Painted and unpainted drums of all sizes are used in pueblo ceremonies. The drum suggests the thunder that comes with rain. The drum has two heads. Pueblo songs are written to start slowly and then go to a climax. At a certain point of the song, the drum is flipped over to achieve a higher beat. This lifts the dancers and gives them the impetus to continue dancing.

Read more about this drum here...