The Dr. Samuel R. Poliakoff Collection of Western Art

Mary Cain is part of the impressive Santa Clara pottery matriarchy, learning to make pottery from her mother, Christina Naranjo, and grandmother, Sara Fina Tafoya. Cain has seven children who are all potters and twelve grandchildren, including the supremely talented contemporary potters Tammy Garcia and Autumn Borts. Potters create red polished pottery using the exact same materials and process that are used for black pottery. The difference resulting in red is that potter did not smother the firing with crushed dung, but allowed air to circulate through the firing.