Damacia Cordero

Cochiti Pueblo

Damacia Cordero (1905-1989) began producing pottery for the market in the 1920s. In the 1950s she began making storytellers but her style was evocative of much older traditions: they tended to have elongated straight torsos, long arched noses extending down from the hairline, and large protruding ears that sometimes resembled fins or wings. She also did minimal modeling of her adults' arms and her baby figures.

Damacia's mother was Lucinda Suina, her daughters: Marie Laweka, Josephine Arquero, Martha Arquero and Gloria Herrera. While she taught her daughters the ancient art she also taught others, including Dorothy Trujillo.