Awa Tsireh (San Ildefonso)

Awa Tsireh or Alfonso Roybal (1898-1955) was a wellknown San Ildefonso painter and silversmith. Awa Tsireh's grandmother, Dominguita Pino Martinez, was known for her large polychrome and red-handled jars. His mother was the noted potter Alfonsita Martinez and his father, Juan Estaba Roybal, was the nephew of famed pueblo potter Cresencio Martinez. Awa Tsireh, a student of Elizabeth Willis DeHuff, was one of the earliest fine arts painters from San Ildefonso Pueblo which lies 22 miles north of Santa Fe, the state capital of New Mexico and the Southwest's center for artistic invention in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Read the full Essential West article on the tiles of Awa Tsireh
Click here to watch our video about the lost tiles of Awa Tsireh and Paul St. Gaudens
The Lost Tiles of Awa Tsireh and Paul St. Gaudens