About the Artist

(Born 1939) Dora Tse-Pe was born and grew up at Zia pueblo. Marrying an individual from San Ildefonso pueblo, Tse-Pe fell under the influence of her mother in law, potter Rose Gonzales.

Credited as introducing micaceous slips to potters at San Ildefonso, Dora Tse-Pe is both a traditionalist and an innovator, blending characteristics of both "camps" of pottery creation to produce pottery all her own.  Her choice to inset a single turquoise cabochon in the eye of her sensitively carved avanyu figures includes the selection of extremely high grade turquoise, brilliant in color.  

The artist's records of winning awards for her pottery span four decades.  She has been consequently honored as one of the "Masters" of Indian Market in Santa Fe.  Tse-Pe is heralded in the book to accompany an exhibition held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts titled Pottery by American Indian Women The Legacy of Generations by Susan Peterson in the chapter "Avant-Garde".