The Pottery of the Santa Clara
Although around 200 Santa Clara potters are currently turning out stylish and highly priced blackware and redware, it wasn't always the case. When Stevenson and Cushing made their first Indian pottery-collecting expeditions for the Smithsonian in 1879, they gathered black, red, and micaceous bowls and storage jars from Santa Clara, all undecorated. Sara Fina Tafoya is generally credited with development of the first carved Santa Clara blackware in 1922. Later, her son Manuel, created deeper carving, and by 1930 the two were doing carved ware that resembles modern Tafoya pottery.