Sara Fina Tafoya

{{Infobox artist

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Sara Fina Gutiérrez Tafoya

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Sara Fina Tafoya - portrait c. 1900 by unknown photographaer.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Sara Fina Tafoya around 1900

| native_name = Autumn Leaf

| native_name_lang =

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| baptised =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|1863}}

| death_place = New Mexico, US

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| nationality = Tewa, Santa Clara Pueblo, American

| education =

| alma_mater =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| style =

| movement =

| spouse = José Geronimo Tafoya, "White Flower"

| partner =

| parents =

| father =

| mother = Filomena Cajete Gutiérrez

| relatives =

| family =

| awards =

| elected =

| patrons =

| memorials =

| website =

| module =

}}

Sara Fina Gutiérrez Tafoya (1863–1949){{cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Mary Ellen |last2=Blair |first2=Laurence |title=Margaret Tafoya: A Tewa Potter's Heritage and Legacy |date=1986 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |location=West Chester, Pennsylvania |isbn=0-88740-080-9}}{{cite web |title=Sara Fina Tafoya |url=https://www.artic.edu/artists/105041/sara-fina-tafoya |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522193832/https://www.artic.edu/artists/105041/sara-fina-tafoya |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Art Institute of Chicago |year=1863 |publisher=}} (sometimes spelled Serefina Tafoya and Serafina Tafoya) was a Tewa matriarch potter from Kha'po Owingeh (in Tewa: [xɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè]), New Mexico.

Tafoya is known for her minimally-adorned blackware and black-on-black ware, frequently marked with the imprint of a bear claw motif.{{cite news |last1=McLister |first1=Iris |date=18 August 2017 |title=Immortal coils: 'Spoken Through Clay' celebrates Native pottery |work=Pasatiempo |publisher=Santa Fe New Mexican |url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/art/immortal-coils-spoken-through-clay-celebrates-native-pottery/article_d0d46c01-9958-5474-bc70-927b83419d37.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522193834/https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/art/immortal-coils-spoken-through-clay-celebrates-native-pottery/article_d0d46c01-9958-5474-bc70-927b83419d37.html |archive-date=22 May 2021}} She has been referred to as "undoubtedly the outstanding Tewa potter of her time."{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas |date=5 March 2001 |title=Margaret Tafoya, 96, Pueblo Potter Whose Work Found a Global Audience |pages=B.6 |work=The New York Times |publisher= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/arts/margaret-tafoya-96-pueblo-potter-whose-work-found-a-global-audience.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815163005/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/arts/margaret-tafoya-96-pueblo-potter-whose-work-found-a-global-audience.html |archive-date=15 August 2022}} The Tafoya family lineage of Puebloan potters "goes as far back as records exist."{{cite web |title=National Heritage Fellowships - Margaret Tafoya |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/margaret-tafoya |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020063058/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/margaret-tafoya |archive-date=20 October 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=National Endowment for the Arts |publisher=}} Tafoya's work consisted primarily of large-scale vessels that were marked with concave and convex impressions and carved designs.{{cite web |date=5 November 2020 |title=Kin and Kiln: Tafoya Black-on-Black Ware |url=https://www.bowers.org/index.php/collection/collection-blog/kin-and-kiln-tafoya-black-on-black-ware |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629070349/https://www.bowers.org/index.php/collection/collection-blog/kin-and-kiln-tafoya-black-on-black-ware |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Bowers Museum |publisher=}}{{Cite web |last=King |first=Charles S. |date=10 August 2019 |title=Signed, 'Serafina': The Signed Pottery of SaraFina Tafoya |url=https://kinggalleries.com/signed-sara-fina/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113202128/https://kinggalleries.com/signed-sara-fina/ |archive-date=13 January 2023 |access-date=21 February 2023 |website=King Galleries}}

Personal life

Tafoya married Geronimo Tafoya with whom she had eight children. Many of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and extended family became well-known potters including Margaret Tafoya, LuAnn Tafoya, Tammy Garcia, Nathan Youngblood and others.

Collections

Her work is included in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Denver Art Museum,{{cite web |title=Jar, about 1900 - Artist: Sara Fina Tafoya |url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/1929.115 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522193833/https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/1929.115 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Denver Art Museum |publisher=}} the Mount Hoyoke College Art Museum,{{cite web |title=Double Shoulder Jar |url=https://artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu/object/double-shoulder-jar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812030542/https://artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu/object/double-shoulder-jar |archive-date=12 August 2022 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Mount Holyoke College Art Museum |date=14 August 2015 |publisher=}} the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,{{cite web |title=Serafina Tafoya |url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/people/7827/serafina-tafoya;jsessionid=DE415559ACEAFAC807AACA6E74FC6A70 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522193832/https://art.nelson-atkins.org/people/7827/serafina-tafoya;jsessionid=DE415559ACEAFAC807AACA6E74FC6A70 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art |publisher=}} among other private and public collections.