Absolutely amazing vintage vessel by highly famed potter Nancy Youngblood Lugo. Her work is seldom available for purchase.
 
This is a beautifully made miniature vessel with a deeply-carved Avanyu (water serpent) design. This is a small vessel (2 1/6" in diameter by 7/8" in height), but don’t let its small size fool you…it is a really stunning example of Santa Clara pottery. Often, we don’t know the exact age of a “vintage” piece, but the bottom of this vessel has “6/78” on it indicating a June, 1978 firing, making this a true vintage work of art. The detail and precision of this piece makes it highly valuable. To top it off, it is in excellent condition.
 
Nancy Youngblood Lugo is known for her perfectionist carving skills and enjoyed creating miniatures as well as larger vessels. She became well-known and collectors would wait for her work to become available.
 
Nancy strongly felt it important to keep traditional methods in creating and firing her pottery and this piece is a beautiful example of art using those traditional methods. Keeping tradition, she also used a common Santa Clara design style by placing a carved band around the widest part of a piece. These band designs often used a pueblo symbol such as bear prints, lightening, feathers, and the Avanyu (a horned serpent of pueblo lore). This piece has a deeply carved Avanyu band around its widest part.
 
Starting with a first-place award in 1972 at the renowned Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial, she continued to receive awards for over 29 years including "Best in Show" at the Santa Fe Indian Market (considered by some as the most prestigious award for Native American artists), and the "Distinguished Artist Award" from the Santa Fe Rotary Foundation (given to a living artist who has achieved national distinction). Her work is part of permanent exhibits in the Cleveland Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. Her work has been included in the publications Art of Clay, Timeless Pottery of the Southwest, Pottery by American Indian Women, and the Legacy of Generations.
 
The vessel was purchased at auction (sticker still attached) in the 1980s and has had one owner since. The vessel has been on display in a non-smoking home in an open, yet protective display case. The vessel would be perfect for the current popular white decor/dark contrast farmhouse style, or anywhere there is a desire for texture, ethnic art, geometric symmetry, or a wish for natural earthy elements.
 
Santa Clara Pueblo pottery in general is highly regarded and sought after for its excellent quality craftmanship and eye-catching designs. Their pottery is very collectible and highly sought after. Work by Nancy Youngblood Lugo is exceptionally sought after.