Grandmother Storyteller with Child by Helen Cordero (1915-1994), Cochiti Pueblo

Grandmother Storyteller with Child,  c. 1970by Helen Cordero (1915-1994), Cochiti Puebloclay, pigment11" high x 5" wide x 8" deep Helen Cordero was born in 1915 at Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. At that time, the area's rich pottery tradition was in decline. As Cordero said, "For a long time, pottery was silent in the pueblos." In the late 1950s, she and her cousin, an accomplished potter, began making pottery as an alternative to leather and beadwork. Cordero was never satisfied with her bowls and pitchers, but then her cousin suggested that she try figures instead. In Cordero's words, it was "like a flower blooming." Countless tiny birds and animals and, eventually, people came to life. One of the traditional figurine forms was a seated female figure holding a child, known as the Singing Mother. When Cordero tried her hand at this form, she "kept seeing my grandfather [Santiago Quintana]. That one, he was a really good storyteller, and there was always lots of us grandchildren around hi