Artwork Page for Swirl Melon Bowl

Details / Information for Swirl Melon Bowl

Swirl Melon Bowl

1994

Nancy Youngblood

(Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1955)
Culture
Native North America, Southwest, New Mexico
Medium
ceramic, slip
Measurements
Overall: 15 x 23.1 cm (5 7/8 x 9 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
James Albert and Mary Gardiner Ford Memorial Fund 1994.199
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Nancy Youngblood is known for “melon” jars with deep, perfectly regular, hand-carved ribs—here, 32 swirl dramatically around the chamber, each polished to a sheen. Youngblood belongs to Santa Clara Pueblo’s fabled Tafoya pottery family and she is committed to preserving family techniques and forms, including the melon. She works in black ware, a Santa Clara tradition, and takes no shortcuts, offering a prayer before digging her own clay, building the vessel with clay coils, patiently polishing with handed-down polishing stones, and firing in an open fire rather than a kiln.
Black ceramic bowl in a squat, diamond shape with softened edges. The bowl is made of even coils curving diagonally up from the ground, their shiny black coating catching the light.

Swirl Melon Bowl

1994

Nancy Youngblood

(Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1955)
Native North America, Southwest, New Mexico

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