THREE ARTIST SIGNED TENORI, BICA AND CELLICION NATIVE AMERICAN NEW MEXICO PUEBLO POTTERY. Three decorated ceramic jars artist signed: THOMAS TENORIO, SD Pueblo, NM, dated 1992; DELDRICK CELLICION, ZUNI, NM; and N/B are the initials for NELLIE BICA. The Large Spherical Jar (Left) features a polychrome design (multiple colors: red, black, and cream/buff). The primary decoration is a stylized Bighorn Sheep (or similar horned quadruped) surrounded by floral or plant motifs. The base is painted solid red. The Smallest Bowl (Center) has a white slip background with a design painted in reddish-brown. The central figure appears to be a stylized frog or toad, often a motif associated with water and fertility in Pueblo culture. The Medium-Sized Jar (Right) is painted in a fine polychrome (black, white, and red/orange on a buff background) with extremely intricate geometric patterns, especially the large, four-point star (or kiva step) design on the front.
ARTIST PROFILE: THOMAS TENORIO (U-Nah-Thee-Wah) was born in 1963 on Santo Domingo Pueblo. Primarily a self-taught potter, he began making pots in the traditional way in the early 1990s. He told me it took him several years to work out the chemistry of the bee weed plant-based paint and the buff slip, then he learned to protect his pots inside a metal cage when he fired them so no fuel would touch the pots.
ARTIST PROFILE: DELDRICK CELLICION collaborates with his wife, Lorenda Cellicion, at Zuni Pueblo to create polychrome jars, bowls, effigies and wedding vases. His favorite designs are lizards, salamanders, frogs, rosettes, feathers and scrolls.
ARTIST PROFILE: NELLIE BICA (Zuni Pueblo, 1905-1998) is considered one of the most famous Zuni potters of the mid-20th century. She is noted for her pottery owl figurines. In 1917, Nellie learned to make pottery: "My mother's youngest sister taught me when I was in my teens. Owls were the first pottery I made. That's the way they taught them in those days. I always put babies on my owls. I think I was one of the first to make owls with legs. Now my daughter and three granddaughters make them, too." - Height: Tallest jar: 3.75 inches. Estimate $200-300
