Many of these figures caricatured outsiders scholars have speculated on their role as a form of social commentary on the changing demographics of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century New Mexico. During this time period, collectors and dealers referred to these figures by the Spanish word mono (monkey, silly fool, mere doll) and did not regard them highly.
As the tourism market grew with the coming of the railroad in the 1880s, Cochiti women crafted and sold human and animal figures to outsiders. Moreover, storytellers reflect values that continue to characterize Pueblo society, including the importance of oral tradition, generational ties, and community.įigurative ceramics-animal, bird, and human figurines-have historically thrived at Cochiti. Storytellers are now widely collected, appearing in major museums and private collections throughout the world. Women have played a central role in keeping figurative ceramics alive and innovating the craft to meet changing demands and interests.īy the late twentieth century, Pueblo figurative sculpture began to be valued as art, partly due to the popularity of storytellers, seated human figures with mouths wide open to represent the tradition of oral storytelling. Storytellers–seated human figures with mouths wide open to represent oral storytelling–have flourished into a cottage industry in Cochiti, New Mexico.
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