Silas Claw

Diné

Silas Claw was a Diné potter from the remote Coal Mine Mesa area of the Diné Nation. That's the same neighborhood Rose Williams, Susie Crank, Alice Cling, Faye Tso, Louise Goodman and so many other Diné potters are from. Silas and his wife, Bertha Claw, made pottery together for 40 years.

Silas was one of the innovators of using appliqués on pottery. He eventually produced two lines of pottery: a piñon-pitch coated line for his friends and neighbors and an acrylic-painted line for collectors, traders and tourists.


A band of fencing enclosing donkeys around a brown wedding vase with fire clouds
A brown wedding vase with fire clouds ringed by fencing and a band of donkeys
7.5 in H by 5.25 in Dia
Applique Dineh dancers on a three-spout polychrome wedding vase
A three-spout wedding vase decorated with appliqué dancer figures
5.25 in Dia by 7.5 in H

Diné Potters