Featured Sweet Little Mouse, Marked (by sticker) Santa Clara

Well, it says Santa Clara...an' I'm hesitant to remove the sticker to see what may be beneath, suspecting probably nothing of import. I wonder about the authenticity 'tho, with only that applied piece of paper for an only reference.
He's ~2 5/8 from snout to tail; ~1 1/2 across his ears...~49 grams.
He doesn't have that special look of burnished finish I expect from Santa Clara pieces. What say you? Thanks for lookin'!

 

I would think it is highly probable a Santa Clara piece. Found this pic on Google but dead link . Not mouse but similar.

 

I had doubted its authenticity for 2 'reasons': first, many if not most of the real Santa Clara items I've seen are black-on-black; and second, I thought it looked more 'glazed' than burnished. I note in your group the 2 in front are without surface design...and have that same glazed appearance.
You have provided much illumination, and I'm grateful, Lark...Thanks!

 

I don't see any reason to doubt it being Santa Clara. Don't remove the label.

https://www.google.com/search?q=vin...g&ei=DGG0Y_-2BNWsp84PkcKSsAo&bih=698&biw=1488

 

Are you talking about black glaze painted onto black clay? This LOOKS to be "black on black" to me, but with some debris in the unglazed part of the clay that the mouse was standing on and may have been picked up from the kiln and fired in.

 

I knew I had seen one with the pierced eye holes though not a mouse- a pig
https://www.icollector.com/item.aspx?i=23388224

 

Those aren't deep...~1/8 inch. I think he's solid...if hollow there's be a vent...or would there?

Absolutely...astute counsel!

 

I have long thought the term referred to a matte-finished design on a glazed or burnished body. Is there another (more correct) definition for the term?

 

It looks like Santa Clara to me too. Pueblo pottery is not glazed-- it's polished. Before the clay is entirely dry, when it's still a little leathery and can be made smooth, it's polished using a stone or similar tool. That makes the shiny finish after it's fired.

After polishing, but before firing, designs can be painted on the polished surface. Then while firing, if the fire is smothered and the kiln fills with smoke and carbonizes the pottery, that paint will become the duller matte finish, and the underlying polished finish will show through around it. As you note @wlwhittier, that's the famous black on black Santa Clara and San Ildefonso (and other) pottery.

 

Thanks for your lengthy description of their finishing process, PP...the polishing, using a stone or tool, is what I call burnishing, from my experiences in a machine shop. There are specialized hand-tools for doing it, as well as machine tools for larger surfaces. I'll post a pic here of one hand burnisher I still have, but it'll be tomorrow before that happens.

Which reminds me I have a small clutch of primative burnishing tools that need exposure in the tool section of this forum...I'll work on that real soon now.