Unknown Tesuque Potter

Pottery making at Tesuque Pueblo almost died out before anyone started to sign their pieces. There was a long-running massive push for Muna figures (Rain Gods) that burned out all the Tesuque potters who were working, and it delivered the potters a dismal return for their efforts. Thousands of Muna figures were produced over several decades but none were ever signed. Some families developed their own versions and some Munas have been attributed to those families because of that but the general production of pottery at Tesuque essentially stopped in the 1990s.

In the 1960s Manuel and Vicenta Vigil may have been the first Pueblo artists to develop a nativity scene. That may have been the impetus for Tesuque potters to begin signing their works. The Vigils produced more than a thousand nativity sets over the next 15 years and the form was adopted and adapted by potters from several other pueblos.