This traditional Santa Clara Pueblo jar or olla is blackware, aka black-on-black pottery. Hand coiled, burnished and slip-designed by Robert G. Naranjo (1943-2022), it measures 3 1/2 inches tall, 4 inches across the belly, has a 1 1/2 inch diameter mouth and weighs 9 1/2 ounces. It's signed on the bottom: Robert Naranjo SCP {Santa Clara Pueblo} and dated 99.

The jar has three distinct design bands. The upper one represents the steps to the kiva, the Puebloan chamber used for ceremonies and meetings. The center band is an avanyu, a powerful serpent deity of rain, storms and lightning. This avanyu wraps around the jar with an inset turquoise bead for its eye and a fork of lightning spewing from its mouth. The bottom band encircles the base with waves.

This beautiful small olla is in very good shape with no damage or repairs. It's a wonderful find for those who appreciate fine Pueblo pottery.

✯ Robert G. Naranjo was a prominent Santa Clara Pueblo potter. After serving in the Army in Viet Nam, he worked in the trucking business until he began learning how to make pottery from his mother Mollie Naranjo and his aunt Julia Martinez. Within a few years he was selling beside his aunt at the Santa Fe Indian Market, where he became noted for his beautifully detailed black on black pottery. He earned many ribbons at the Market and multiple awards from the Heard Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art among others. Born at the Indian Health Service Hospital in Dulce, New Mexico, he passed away at Santa Clara Pueblo.

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