Lot 76

Santa Clara Blackware Vase with Avanyu Serpent, by Mida Tafoya

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Lot 76
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Santa Clara Blackware Vase with Avanyu Serpent, by Mida Tafoya
Santa Clara Blackware Vase with Avanyu Serpent, by Mida Tafoya
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Santa Clara Blackware Vase with Avanyu Serpent, by Mida Tafoya

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $400

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Native American, Santa Clara Pueblo, ca. 1960–2000 CE. A lustrous and deeply carved blackware vase by Mida Tafoya depicting Avanyu, the water serpent, with an arrow-like tongue of lightning emerging from the stylized head. The neck rises above the serpent band with vertical feather carving, and the entire surface carries the deep, even stone polish for which the Tafoya family is renowned. The underside is signed by the artist. Mida Tafoya (1931-2024) was a daughter of matriarch Margaret Tafoya and granddaughter of Sara Fina Tafoya, two of the most celebrated potters in Santa Clara history. Size: 5" D x 8" H (12.7 cm D x 20.3 cm H).

Mida Tafoya (1931-2024) belonged to the celebrated Tafoya dynasty of Santa Clara Pueblo, the granddaughter of Serafina "Sara Fina" Tafoya, the matriarch whose monumental burnished vessels helped define twentieth-century Pueblo pottery, and whose descendants (including Margaret Tafoya) elevated Santa Clara blackware to international renown. Working entirely by traditional means, gathering and processing native clay, coiling by hand, polishing with smooth stones, and firing in an outdoor reduction fire smothered with pulverized manure to draw the carbon that blackens the clay, Mida sustained the deeply carved style for which her family is known.

Avanyu, the plumed or horned water serpent, is among the oldest and most potent images in Tewa iconography. Undulating like a flowing stream and spitting lightning that heralds the storm, the serpent embodies water itself, the most precious force in the arid Southwest. Its recurrence on Santa Clara vessels is both decorative and devotional, a prayer for rain rendered in clay.

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

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Item # 204030

  • Condition: Some scuffs and scratches, with a minor chip to the raised serpent's bodym but otherwise intact. Signed on the 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