Jemez Pueblo Storytellers and Figures
Featured
$275.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo storyteller with three children by Janeth Fragua in Pueblo clay - Janeth Fragua has created a female with three children in her arms, as she sings the songs that tell of Jemez traditions.
She is wrapped in a clay representation of a traditional Jemez shawl, and wears boots of clay that simulate those a Jemez maiden would wear.
Janeth Fragua was born to Rose Fraguaof Jemez Pueblo in 1964. She began creating pottery figures in 1984. Janeth is very prolific at building, painting and firing storytellers, koshares and friendship bowls.
Storytellers were originally called “mother singers” and re-created in clay the ways of Pueblo mothers imparting knowledge to the children to the Pueblo. 7" tall #P568
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$275.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery female storyteller with three children, Pueblo clay, by
Janeth Fragua.
Janeth Fragua was born to Rose Fragua of Jemez Pueblo in 1964. She began creating pottery figures in 1984. Janeth is very prolific at building, painting and firing storytellers, koshares and friendship bowls.
This pottery figure, made, painted and fired by hand, presents two children held in the arms of the singer, while one more listens intently from atop the singer’s head.
We call them storytellers now but the originator of this idea referred to them as “mother singers”. By either name, they have always represented the timeless tradition of passing Pueblo heritage from one generation to the next with stories.
7"x 4" deep
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$350.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery storyteller mouse with five micelets by Felicia Fragua in Pueblo clay.
This storyteller with a mouse mother singing to five mouse young’uns takes pottery with a smile to a new level. Carving with care and respect for family values Felicia Fragua reveals her big heart and sense of humor. Oral traditions are not always so serious, especially when love is involved.
Felicia Fragua Curley (Wallowing Bull) was born in the Eagle Clan in 1964 to Grace Fragua. Felicia began her pottery activity in the late 1970's. She was guided with three excellent mentors: her mother, Grace Fragua, Bonnie Fragua and Rose Fragua. Her favorite subjects are mudheads, dogs and mice. Felicia works with traditional clay, coiling it by hand.
Storytellers, originally called “mother singers”, demonstrate the strong maternal influence of imparting knowledge to the children to the Pueblo.
7" tall #P568
5 3/4 inches tall #PE84
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$350.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery storyteller, elder male with 2 babies & drum, by L. Tsosie
6" high.
At some point in the evolution of mother singers in pueblo culture, artists recognized that the role of educating pueblo children in the ways of Native life, was not confined to mothers. Grandfathers, as keepers of the oldest knowledge. were important sources of truth. This Tsosie male storyteller is evidence of that process.
Click the Additional Info link to view a 360-degree rotational view of this Jemez Pueblo storyteller
$110.00
Native American Jemez pottery storyteller, by Mary & Simon Small, male with two children - Pueblo clay
This charming storyteller was acquired personally from Mary Small in 2001. Mary Small was born in July 1940, into the Jemez Pueblo Sun Clan. Her mother, Perfectita Toya started her down the path to pottery perfection.
For many years she worked with younger potters to encourage excellence and instill a sense of pride in their work.
Mary has earned award after award during her career, culminating in being named the Indian Arts and Crafts Association Artist of the Year in 2002 and 2010.
Working with her husband, Mary experimented with natural materials before finding her trademark blue/gray slip and burnt red/orange designs. Mary describes her finished work as, "…blessed, they have power."
3" tall x 2” deep #PG26
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Please Note: For a limited time, our normal fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destinations may be arranged by contacting us at Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$700.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery Koshare figure, with drum and a bowl of watermelon slices, sits on shelf edge.
Kathleen Wall is a marvel. Each year we have watched her pieces disappear before noon at the Santa Fe Indian market. This one was created in collaboration with her brother, Marcus Wall, and is signed accordingly. It was made to sit on the edge of a horizontal surface, like a shelf.
Kathleen Wall received a New Mexico 2021 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. She also was the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture’s Native Treasures Living Treasure in 2020 and 2021. She is the only artist to receive the designation in two successive years. (To be candid, it was because the 2020 award event was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic and postponed until 2021. Nevertheless, it’s in the record books.)
On a personal note, we owned a figure done by Kathleen that had some provenance questions. When we contacted her to clarify, she immediately remembered the piece. It was one of her first figures. We were happy to return it for her personal collection for what we had paid for it. She was thrilled.
11 1/2" x 6" x 7"
$310.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery storyteller, female with 3 children by Mary Small
Theoretically, this a “mother singer”, according to the history of these figural pots. It is a maiden adorned with a turquoise necklace. She holds babes in her arms while another looks on from behind over shoulder. She is wearing a simulated skirt. Simulated brown legging boots extend in front of her.
In July, 1940, the Sun Clan of Jemez Pueblo welcomed Mary Small, delivered by her mother, Perfectita Toya.. When about 8 years old, Mary began learning the traditional way of making pueblo pottery.
Mary matured surrounded by Jemez pottery that had fallen on diminished quality. She worked with younger Jemez potters to encourage excellence and to pursue standards of which they could be proud.
Mary also worked with her husband to find natural slips and colors that could give her work a signature look. They settled on a blue/gray slip and a burnt red/orange palette. This combination and Mary’s exceptional talent at form and design, led her, often working with her husband and son, to award after award over the years. She was even the Indian Arts and Crafts Association Artist of the Year in both 2002 and 2010.
4"H, 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" #PM34
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$250.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery storyteller, female with 3 children and a pot, by Chrislyn Fragua
Jemez Pottery maker Chrislyn Fragua was born in 1973 to Linda Lucero Fragua, who taught her in the 1980s to harvest the Jemez clay from the nearby hills and to use it to form works of Jemez pottery art.
This particular mother singing storyteller displays Fragua’s gift for creating figurals that include stories of life. The mother is holding a pot while she sings, possibly about the spirit of the pot, for three Jemez children.
Mom wears a traditional Jemez manta simulated in clay and displays the cheeks with sun bursts that are often painted on Jemez figural’s cheeks.
Chrislyn says she uses hand-coiling to start her pieces with an idea of what it will become, but she also says she responds to what the clay asks of her.
7" tall, x 5" deep
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.
$75.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery
Storyteller Santa Claus of Pueblo clay by D. (Deborah) Loretto.
Non-Indians may ask how a Christian symbol finds its way into Native American culture. No one knows for sure. But one can speculate the Christian teachings of the Catholic missionary priests to the Southwest left their mark.
Another theory is that art finds its own medium and, for the talented pottery artists of the Pueblos, a jolly symbol like Santa Claus is a natural outlet for their creative urges…and their need for income.
In any case, this jolly Santa Claus pottery storyteller, is almost irresistible in its charm and sense of well-being. Deborah Loretto captured it here as a swarm of Santa’s fans listen to his tales of toys and joys.
Born in 1956, Deborah Loretto is a traditional Jemez Pueblo pottery artist who uses both the coil and pinch methods to create her pottery. She likes to style Santa Claus storyteller figures.
3" tall x 2.25" x 2" #PM84
$225.00
Native American Jemez Pueblo pottery storyteller koshare in Pueblo clay. For this storyteller, Janeth Fragua has created a koshare with three mini koshares, painted in black, rust and tan colors and holding corn husks.
Janeth was born in 1964, a daughter of Rose Fragua. She has been creating pottery since 1984. Janeth is very prolific at building, painting and firing storytellers, koshares and friendship bowls typically painted in black and rust colors.
Koshares are Pueblo clowns (sometimes called sacred clowns). They are jesters or tricksters in the Kachina religion (practiced by the Pueblo natives of the southwestern United States).
7" tall #P398
Please Note: For a limited time, our normal $50 fee for packing and shipping will be absorbed by Native-PotteryLink, resulting in free shipping to any address within the 48 mainland United States. Shipping to other destination may be arranged by emailing Sanibelart@gmail.com.