Vintage Candelaria Suazo Pottery Turtle

Introducing an elegant miniature turtle pottery figure by Candelaria Suazo of Santa Clara Pueblo here in New Mexico.

The sleek vintage turtle is handmade in a contemporary design - its black body polished with a stone to a high sheen. After being fired, the turtle's shell has been carefully incised with its beautiful and symmetrical flute player design. Interestingly, many Native people believe that the back of a turtle's shell is divided as a type of calendar. Might the motif on this turtle's shell also be a type of calendar?

To Native people, turtles represent protection (bestowed by their hard shells), longevity, and journeys of discovery which happen throughout their long lives. 

The darling reptile's body measures 2 3/4" long x 1 1/4" high and 2 3/4" wide. It's signed on the reverse.

Santa Fe pottery specialist Andrew Fisher has recorded this fantastic video showing Candelaria Suazo's pottery making process. It will help you better understand what went into creating this special little turtle.

The turtle is one of the few animal pottery creations from a beloved collection of Native American Pueblo animal art, mostly fetishes from Zuni Pueblo that are from the collection of a beautiful woman who grew up in Germany during World War II. Post war, she moved to the United States and became a model in New York City. She eventually married, left her modeling career, and moved to El Paso with her husband. In El Paso, she first experienced the charm of Native American art and jewelry. 

Many years later, she attended her first of several celebrated Native American art field trips hosted by Martha Struever. During this time, she expanded her collection of Native American art and jewelry. Her collection wasn't vast, but it was extremely meaningful to her.

After a long and full life, this dear woman recently passed away. She knew that her pieces which she lovingly called her "treasures" were to be handled by Turquoise & Tufa, and she expressed her wishes that these dear little animals would bring as much joy to us as they did to her.