Bernice Suazo Naranjo (Born 1943) Pueblo, Santa Clara Etched Pottery Vase. The smooth matte surface is etched with the image of a lizard, just below the broad irregular mouth. Signed on underside along with her hallmark. 

size: 9 x 9 x 11 1/2 in. 

Bernice Naranjo was born Bernice Suazo at Taos Pueblo in 1943, and moved to Santa Clara Pueblo after she married Tito Naranjo. She was a self-taught potter who almost always worked with micaceous clay. At Santa Clara she adjusted her process and learned to work with their type of clay from her sisters-in-law, Jody Folwell and Nora Naranjo-Morse. She is most known for her dark brown and sienna jars decorated with intricate sgraffito nature, wildlife, and geometric designs. She is the mother of Forrest and Dusty Naranjo, grandmother of Johnathan Naranjo, all of whom have learned her technique of forming jars, firing them black, etching them, and then refiring them to sienna. Her contributions to Indigenous art forms have earned her numerous ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market, with her pieces in public and private collections around the country. She signs her works with a round hallmark with two lines through it which represents her name in Tiwa, meaning “Striped Rock.”

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