Angelina Medina Acoma Pueblo Shawled Maiden Pottery Figure, 1989

An Acoma Pueblo standing figure of a maiden by Angelina Medina, hand-built in micaceous clay and hand-painted. The woman is shown wrapped in a pale blue shawl drawn up over her head, framing a serene painted face with rounded hair and traditional facial markings. Both the shawl hem and the terracotta-toned manta below carry crisp black-and-white geometric banding in the Acoma vocabulary — stepped frets, hatching, and triangle motifs rendered in fine-line brushwork. Passages of the shawl edge and hairline are finished in metallic luster, adding a reflective accent against the matte slip.

The figure is signed on the lower skirt "Angelina Medina © 9/89 ACOMA," dating it to September 1989. Medina works across Acoma and Zia traditions and is known for sculptural figures that carry the same painted precision as vessel pottery. The base is felted. This is a freestanding sculptural work rather than a hollow storyteller — a single quiet figure that reads equally well from front, side, and back, where the shawl folds are modeled with real dimension.

Acoma Pueblo — Sky City — sits atop a mesa in west-central New Mexico and holds one of the longest continuous pottery traditions in North America. The village is known for thin-walled whiteware and tightly controlled geometric painting drawn with yucca-fiber brushes. Figurative work in the Acoma and neighboring Zia idiom extends that painted discipline into sculptural form, translating manta borders and fine-line banding onto the modeled human figure.

CONDITION

Excellent. No remarkable damage; painted surfaces are crisp and the luster accents remain bright. Light kiln and handling speckling to the terracotta slip consistent with the medium.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• 12 3/4" H × 5" W × 4 3/4" D
• Material: Micaceous clay, hand-built and hand-painted
• Signed: "Angelina Medina © 9/89 ACOMA" on lower skirt
• Base: Felted bottom
• Campbell's Cream of Celery Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included