Native American pottery

Native American pottery is a beautiful and seductive art form which draws fans from all over the world. Shape, texture, finish and color all affect the impact of a finely executed piece. Techniques in potting remain traditional for many artists. Hand-coiling and stone polishing are laborious methods which can result in a unique and glowing creation. Many artists still fire their pots outdoors with risky firing methods their ancestors initiated. Most potters still say that they pray during the potting process, and that it is negative thinking which results in a broken or discolored pot.

Native American pottery designs evolve and become more abstracted, yet still harken back to those found on ancient petroglyphs and pictographs in the pre-historic Pueblo ruins of the southwest. New shapes appear with non-symmetrical openings, although centuries-old jar and bowl forms dominate for almost all contemporary potters. Techniques such as sgraffito (fine, shallow carving) have changed the look of pottery over the years, but not the symbols and themes employed by Pueblo and Navajo peoples, which connect them to all things natural and spiritual.

At Grey Dog Trading Company, we offer Native American pottery by a range of talented artists including Alice Cling, the Williams family and the Folwell/Naranjo family. These artists continue to win top prizes at major southwestern Native American juried art shows. We also feature the work of noted pottery miniaturists from Santa Clara and Laguna Pueblos.

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