Collection Online as of February 6, 2023
Plate with Bear Claw Design
Nathan Youngblood
(Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1954)
Ceramic
Diameter: 5.4 x 29.5 cm (2 1/8 x 11 5/8 in.); Overall: 5.3 cm (2 1/16 in.)
Gift of Frances and David Dickenson in memory of Sarah Dickenson and Jeffrey Cudlip 2003.346
Location
231 Native North American
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.