Lot 112

20th C. Acoma Black-on-White Pottery Jar - Tina Garcia

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Lot 112
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20th C. Acoma Black-on-White Pottery Jar - Tina Garcia
20th C. Acoma Black-on-White Pottery Jar - Tina Garcia
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20th C. Acoma Black-on-White Pottery Jar - Tina Garcia

Estimate: $300 - $450

Starting Bid: $150

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 7, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Native American, Pueblo, Tina Garcia (Santa Clara / Acoma), ca. 1980–2020 CE. A hand-coiled ceramic jar whose swelling shoulder and inward-drawn rim carry a dense, dazzling field of black-on-white geometry. Fine-line hatching radiates from central starbursts into interlocking triangles and stepped, nested chevrons, the negative white lines pulled taut against saturated matte black to produce an almost kinetic optical shimmer. The interior and rim remain a clean slipped white, throwing the exterior ornament into sharp relief. The form itself is confident and sculptural, rising from a compact base to a full, rounded belly before tapering to the mouth. Executed entirely by hand, from dug and cleaned clay through coiling and outdoor firing, the vessel translates the age-old fine-line tradition into a crisp, contemporary statement. Signed on the underside of the base. Presented on an included custom acrylic stand. Size: 7.5" D x 5.9" H (19.1 cm D x 15.0 cm H); on included custom stand: 7.5" D x 6.4" H (19.1 cm D x 16.3 cm H).

Tina Garcia (b. 1957, Santa Clara Pueblo) descends from a distinguished ceramic lineage, having studied the hands of her mother Lydia Garcia, her aunt Angela Baca, and her grandmother Severa Tafoya. Absorbing the craft first by observation, she took up focused instruction at age eleven and was coiling professionally by 1980, later deepening her practice with study of historic Pueblo ceramics at the School of American Research. Though best known for the traditional blackware and redware of Santa Clara, her work is defined by uncompromising hand methods: she digs and cleans her own clay, coils each vessel by hand, and fires outdoors, forgoing wheel and kiln alike. She is celebrated for ambitious large-scale forms and a refined polish, has demonstrated her craft publicly, contributed to a documentary for the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, and appears in numerous published accounts of contemporary Pueblo pottery.

The tightly ruled fine-line geometry seen here, hatched triangles and radiating starbursts in black on a white ground, is a hallmark of the Acoma painting tradition, distinguishing this piece from the polished redware and blackware most associated with Santa Clara.

Provenance: private Denver, Colorado, USA collection; ex-Trautenberg Estate

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Item # 204027

  • Condition: Remains of adhesive on underside of base from previous display. Otherwise, intact and excellent. Signed on underside of base.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000