Storyteller (pottery)

Storyteller Under Sunny Skies, storyteller doll by Rose Pecos-SunRhodes (Jemez), 1993, collection of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

A Storyteller is a clay figurine made by the Pueblo people of New Mexico. The first contemporary storyteller was made by Helen Cordero of the Cochiti Pueblo in 1964 in honor of her grandfather, who was a tribal storyteller. It is basically a figure of a storyteller, usually a man or a woman and its mouth is always open. It is surrounded by figures of children and other things, who represent those who are listening to the storyteller. The motif is based on the traditional "singing mother" motif which depicts a woman with her mouth open holding one or two children.