COCHITI
Cochiti Pueblo is a small Keresan-speaking community located 25 miles southwest of Santa Fe. Many of their potters come from the Fox, Coyote, Turquoise and Shipewe clans. Their traditional pottery is painted with a vegetal or mineral black on a heavy cream slip with an orange base. Favorite designs include clouds, rain, animals and flowers.
Cochiti potters were known up through the 19th century for creating huge storage jars. By the 1880s, Cochiti became noted for their fine figural pottery. Circus performers, opera singers and tourists were portrayed in clay sculptures from two inches to two feet tall.
In 1964, Helen Cordero innovated a new figural form called the “Storyteller.” Her model was her grandfather, Santiago Quintana, who used to tell stories to his many grandchildren. Singing Mother and child figures were remodeled into mothers and grandmothers covered with children and grandchildren. This theme expanded into Storytellers based on turtles, frogs, bears, coyotes, prairie dogs, cats, owls and more.
In 1971, Helen won “Best of Show” at Indian Market and was featured in a one-woman show at the Heard Museum.
