Acoma Etched Horsehair Pottery

Gary Louis and his wife, Corrine, are Acoma potters. Corrine is a third generation potter from the Marie Z. Chino family. Corrine and Gary are carrying on the family tradition of working with pottery. They first came across the idea of using human hair on their pottery when one of her own strands of hair fell on a piece as it was being removed from the oven and scorched the pot. It was from this accident that they decided to use this method to decorate their pottery. The human hair leaves lighter marks than the traditional horsehair. Over several years of trial and error they mastered the art of "Human Hair Pottery." Gary has won several awards at the New Mexico State Fair for his contemporary Acoma pottery.

The horsehair burns when it touches the hot pottery leaving a light stain cooked into it, making a beautiful and unique one of a kind pattern on each piece. The piece is then completely etched by hand.

7 1/4" Tall, 6 3/4" Wide