Nambe Pueblo Pottery

The Nambé pottery tradition is similar to that of Taos and Picuris in their use of micaceous clay slips but Nambé potters also used to produce white-on-red and black-on-black products. When Lonnie Vigil began producing his micaceous clay masterpieces about 25 years ago, he almost single-handedly jump-started the revival of pottery making in the pueblo.

These days, virtually every piece of pottery made at Nambé is slipped with micaceous clay before being fired. The only question then is: black, golden or a mix? That’s dependent on how you build the fire and how windy it is when you light it.

Today there are a few potters making micaceous pottery at Nambé and while the general quality level is quite high, the production level is low.