Details
Tribe: Navajo
Artist: Rose Williams
Pottery Construction: Hand Coiled
Type of Pottery: Water Jug
Firing Method: Outdoor Wood Fireplace (Traditional Navajo Firing Technique)
Era: Contemporary (1980’s- present)
Age: Circa 1980’s- early 2000’s
Item Weight: 3 lbs
Width: 5"
Height: 7"
Condition: Great Condition, Small Scuffs
ID Number: #10
Biographical Info for the artist Rose Williams, considered the
Matriarch of Contemporary Navajo Pottery
Rose Williams is acknowledged as the matriarch of modern Navajo pottery, taking Navajo pottery from a strictly utilitarian object and defining a new aesthetic for contemporary Navajo clay artists. Before her death in 2015, at the age of 101, Rose Williams was declared a “living treasure”.
Rose Williams was a member of the Lo’kaa’dine’ Clan, (Reed People), in the Shonto/Cow Springs area of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, not far from Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and Black Mesa.
Rose was taught to make traditional pottery by her aunt, Grace Barlow, who had raised Rose in Shonto. Traditional pieces are fully hand-made. The clay is dug by hand from a seam on their land, diligently prepared for use by screening out impurities, rolled into coils that are built to form the structure and shape of the pot, fired in an outdoor fire and finally coated with a thin layer of pitch pine which both waterproofs the pottery and enhances the color of the fired clay.
When her husband died, Rose began producing pottery which, at that time, was primarily used for utilitarian and ceremonial purposes. Because a medicine man in the 1880s had warned against excessive decoration, Navajo pottery was generally unembellished. There were few decorations on Rose’s pottery beside an occasional “biyo” rope along the rim. Most of Rose’s early pottery was purchased by other Navajo for ceremonial and utilitarian purposes. The tourist and trader market seemed to favor the more highly decorated and hand painted pottery of the pueblos closer to railroads near Albuquerque. In time, the shapes of Rose William’s pots and the strength of their simplicity gained the attention of collectors at fairs and local, national and international museums sought her work.
Rose Williams taught pottery-making to many other Navajos. Of Rose’s fifteen children three of her daughters became highly recognized well-known potters - Alice Cling, Susie Williams Crank and Sue Williams. She also taught Faye Tsao, Louise Goodman, Silas Claw and her daughter-in-law Lorraine Yazzie Williams.
I, the seller, was honored to meet Rose Williams in her Cow Springs home. She spoke little English but, in her 90s, she was very cheery and spry. The last picture is me with Rose Williams.
If you have any questions, or would like more pictures, please just ask.
Shipping
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With every purchase we allow for a provisional 14 day inspection period. If for any reason you do not want to keep an item that you have purchased, simply return the item in original condition within 14 days of receipt. You will be refunded the purchase price. Return shipping not included. Each of our pieces is unique and carefully photographed. If we feel that the returned piece is in any way damaged, or different than the piece that we originally sent, we will return the item to you and no refund will be offered or made.
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Santa Clara Pueblo Red Clay Serpent Pot by Teresita Naranjo. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.
This is a very nice piece of pottery created by well known artist, Teresita Naranjo. Teresita's work appears in many museums across the country and she has been honored as one of the best potters in the Santa Clara Pueblo community. She is the mother of artist, Stella Chavarria, who has also exhibited her works in may galleries and museums. Unfortunately Teresita Naranjo died suddenly in 1999. I had commissioned this pot to be made by her for me directly when I acquired a piece by Stella Chavarria, her daughter. I called her on the phone and she agreed to make this pot for me and I bought it directly from her. I have had it for about 30 years in my collection and now it is time to downsize and allow someone else to enjoy it. I have hopes that someone will purchase the piece I have listed by Stella Chavarria and keep the two together, but I realize that may not happen. This pot is approximately 3" in height, 13" around the widest part, 3" across the top opening and is signed on the base. It is in perfect conditiion and has lived in my display cabinet for many years.
I apologize for my lack of photography skill, but I did the best I could.
