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This listing was written from my heart and mind, with a detailed knowledge of and a love for our OOO products. Since June 2023 eBay has been promoting Artificial Intelligence-generated listing descriptions. I am not faulting AI generation. AI is a wonderful development. I just prefer to do it my way.
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Did Christmas gift shopping sneak up on you last year? Oh, NO! Don’t let that happen again! This is a very good time to buy for next Christmas — or for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Graduations, Birthdays, Quinceaneras, Weddings, Anniversaries, Why not 4th of July? Or even to celebrate Any Day with a very special and unusual gift.
Juan Tafoya San Ildefonso Pueblo. Red Sgraffito Pot. 1 6/8” x 2 5/8”. Signed by Juan Tafoya in 1992, Vintage.
On offer is a Juan Tafoya red pot. Juan is of the extended Tafoya family of potters, and is well renown as a premier San Ildefonso potter. The pot has the classic feather symbols interspersed with incised sgraffiti. We purchased this pot, one of several, in 1992 directly from Juan at his home studio on the Pueblo. This pot is in excellent original condition. It has no chips, cracks, or repairs. It does show normal condition appropriate with its vintage age. It has been in storage in the family collection, in a pet-free, smoke-free environment. Any flaws or damage is noted in the listing and photographs.
Documentation is available, original price tag remains on bottom of pot.
Juan Tafoya was a life-long resident of San Ildefonso Pueblo in north-central New Mexico. He was involved in making pottery that promoted continuation of the art as a creative expression of his ancient culture, as well as a way of life for the artists of San Ildefonso. He learned from his mother Donicia Tafoya, a potter from her early teens, the traditional methods of hand-coiling the local clays. She also taught him that the art of pottery making involved skill, patience, and hard work. Several other family members are contemporary potters.
Among our other listings for Juan Tafoya works is a beautiful blackware pot. We also currently have featured in another listing a pot made by his sister Elizabeth Lovato.
From an early age Juan gathered the clay and other materials necessary for the creation of the red and black pottery so characteristic of the San Ildefonso Pueblo. He pioneered firing techniques to achieve the two-tone red on black effect. He was famed for making traditional blackware (reduction-fired earthenware). This technique involves firing in an outdoor earthen oven while smothering the fire with powdered cow dung which depletes the oxygen but maintains a high temperature. This reduction process blackens the clay. He also created an innovative dimension in Native pottery design by mounting Turquoise and Coral on his pots.
Juan Tafoya won awards at showings throughout New Mexico, the American Southwest, and other states. He was invited to events such as the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show, Annual New Mexico Arts and Crafts Show, The Santa Fe Indian Market, Native Art Market at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Art, and the Renwick Gallery of The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC.
It was a sad day when Juan left us in 2006. “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind”.
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PAYMENT AND SHIPMENT
We ship by USPS First Class which includes tracking and full insurance.
RETURNS
We recognize that opal and other items of jewelry and Native art are very personal and emotional purchases. If you feel your item is not as represented please contact us to discuss any issues you may have. If it is agreed the opal will be returned for refund, you may return it in its’ original condition in protective packaging within 14 days of receipt. Refund to the buyer will amount to the purchase price minus all eBay fees and the cost of outbound and return shipping.
FEEDBACK
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OUTBACK OZ OPAL
Outback Oz Opal began as a two-Geologist family unit in the middle of a street in Coober Pedy, South Australia where we bought from a gem cutter some finished Opal stones and rough Opal to cut and sell in the US. Subsequent Opal purchases of rough and finished stones were made at the Tucson, AZ Gem and Mineral Show where we developed some valuable friendships with Australian miner-cutter vendors. We learned so much about grading and cutting from them. Eventually we were able to purchase the bulk of our Opal off the kitchen table at our Flagstaff home from miner-cutter dealers who routed through on the gem show circuit (Albuquerque, Durango, Denver, etc). Ultimately one miner stored hundreds of pounds of his rough in a SeaLand container on our property to avoid the expense of returning with unsold goods to Australia.
For several years we sold Opal under the name Outback Oz Opal in Flagstaff, AZ. We sold on eBay and locally to Native American artists on the nearby Reservation. Additionally we travelled each month to Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico where we sold from the back of our pickup truck parked “under the tree”. What a dream hobby for two Geologists! But, as is always the case, life happened — a great job opportunity for the Dad in another state and Military service for the Grandson, who had grown up in the business and cut his first Opal fetish when he was in Kindergarten.
We have started again to sell our opal, Native American jewelry, and other Native art objects online as OutbackOzOpal on other selling platforms as well as OznAzOpal on eBay. Thank you for looking at our listings and for placing your trust in Outback Oz Opal.
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