Plate with Bear Claw Design

before 2003
(Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1954)
Diameter: 5.4 x 29.5 cm (2 1/8 x 11 5/8 in.); Overall: 5.3 cm (2 1/16 in.)
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location: not on view

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Description

Black pottery has long been a hallmark of ceramics made in Santa Clara Pueblo. Equally distinctive is a bear claw design, which first appeared in the late 1800s. A bear is said to have led the people of Santa Clara to water during a drought in mythic times; thus, in some contexts, the claw design represents a prayer for rain.
Plate with Bear Claw Design

Plate with Bear Claw Design

before 2003

Nathan Youngblood

(Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1954)
America, New Mexico, Santa Clara Pueblo, 20th century

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