Glendora Fragua

Jemez Pueblo

Glendora Fragua [Daubs] was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1958. She spent some of her early years in California before her family moved back to Jemez Pueblo in the 1970s. Her mother, Juanita Fragua, taught her the fundamentals of the traditional Jemez way of making pottery and by the age of 16, she was engaged in learning sgraffito techniques, working to develop her own style. Her grandmother, Benina Medina Madelena, had married into Jemez Pueblo from Zia Pueblo and has been credited with helping to revive the pottery making tradition at Jemez.

Glendora characterizes her work as contemporary but made the traditional way: hand-gathered-and-processed clay, volcanic ash for temper, paints from the Earth and plants, everything is done by hand the ancient way... the only modern technology she uses is an electric kiln to fire her pots in. The designs she uses are her own, carved into her pots after they've dried and been polished but not fired yet. After carving she might add a red or buff or micaceous slip, then she adds her trademark cornstalk to the bottom and signs the piece before firing it.

Glendora Daubs is a name many collectors recognize her by as she used that during the time she was married. Over the years she has earned pretty much every Blue Ribbon awarded for pottery at the various Indian Markets and Fairs in the Southwest at least once. Her sister is BJ Fragua, her brother Cliff Fragua (famous for his statue of Popé in the Statuary Hall at the US Capitol). At least one of Glendora's pieces is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.


Sgraffito and painted lizard and geometric designs on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with sgraffito and painted lizard and geometric designs
1.25 in H by 2.75 in Dia
Sgraffito corn and geometric design on a red seedpot
Red seedpot with sgraffito corn and geometric design
2.25 in H by 2.25 in Dia
Sgraffito feather and flower design with inlaid coral on an egg-shaped polychrome seedpot
Egg-shaped polychrome seedpot with sgraffito feather and flower design plus inlaid coral
1.75 in H by 2.75 in Dia
Sgraffito corn, feather and geometric designs decorate a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot decorated with sgraffito corn, feather and geometric designs
2.75 in H by 2.5 in Dia
Sgraffito sunface, corn plant and geometric designs on a polychrome buff-colored jar
Polychrome buff-colored jar with sgraffito sunface, corn plant and geometric designs
4 in H by 4.5 in Dia
A sgraffito and painte3d ears of corn and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot with an inlaid garnet
Polychrome seed pot decorated with an ears of corn and geometric design, plus an inlaid garnet
3.75 in H by 2.5 in Dia
Sgraffito and painted feather and geometric design with an inlaid stone on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot decorated with an inlaid stone and sgraffito and painted feather and geometric design
2 in H by 1.5 in Dia
A sgraffito and painted ears of corn and geometric design decorated this miniature polychrome seed pot
A miniature polychrome seed pot decorated with a sgraffito and painted ears-of-corn and geometric design
2.75 in H by 2.25 in Dia
A sgraffito and painted ears of corn and geometric design decorated this miniature polychrome seed pot
Miniature polychrome buff-colored seed pot with sgraffito turtle and geometric design plus an inlaid stone
1.25 in H by 1.25 in Dia
A sgraffito and painted ears-of-corn and geometric design on a polychrome jar with a lid
Lidded polychrome jar decorated with a sgraffito and painted medallion, turtle and geometric design
5 in H by 3 in Dia
Sgraffito and painted ears-of-corn, kiva step and geometric design on a miniature polychrome seed pot
Miniature polychrome seed pot decorated with a sgraffito and painted ears-of-corn, kiva step and geometric design
1.25 in H by 1.5 in Dia
A sgraffito and painted ears of corn and geometric design decorated this miniature polychrome seed pot
A miniature polychrome seed pot decorated with a sgraffito and painted ears-of-corn and geometric design
1.75 in Dia by 1.5 in H
A sgraffito and painted flower and geometric design on a miniature red seed pot
Miniature red seed pot with a sgraffito and painted flower and geometric design
1.5 in Dia by 1.75 in H

Jemez Pueblo Potters