Collection Info
Susan L. Q. Flaherty Collection
The Susan L. Q. Flaherty Collection is dedicated to the memory and artistry of her friend Dora Tse Pe’, potter of San Ildefonso (1939-2022).*
Dora was born in 1939 in Zia Pueblo to Candelaria Medina of Zia and Tony Gachupin of Jemez. She was one of thirteen children. She learned pottery making from her mother. In 1961, Dora married Tse Pe’ of San Ildefonso. There, Dora soon decided to pursue pottery making seriously. From her mother-in-law Rose Gonzales, Dora learned how to polish, which was not a technique used at Zia. Dora's unique style was not only influenced by her mother Candelaria Medina and mother-in-law Rose Gonzales, but also by Popovi Da’s two-tone black and sienna ware and by Tony Da’s inlaying of stones. Dora is best known for her finely polished black and sienna carved pots with stone inlays. There are four of Dora's pieces in the Flaherty Collection. Dora's work is in a number of major museum collections as well as private collections.
The Flaherty Collection is comprised of 73 objects. In 1980 on Flaherty's first trip to the Land of Enchantment, the pottery of San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and Acoma captivated her immediately. Early on, Flaherty returned to New Mexico and was privileged under a Recursos de Santa Fe program to visit potters in their homes to learn of their methods and spiritual approach to their pottery. This is how she initially met Dora and the Lewis sisters of Acoma.
Over a period of 40 years, Flaherty continued to carefully collect, curate and catalog her Collection. While the Collection began with pottery of San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and Acoma, it grew to include examples from the pueblos of Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Ohkay Owingeh, Santo Domingo, and Zuni, and the tribal communities of the Apache, Diné (Navajo), Maricopa, and Winnebago.
Flaherty felt early on that many of the outstanding women potters represented in the Collection were not only artists but also cultural heritage entrepreneurs, that is, highly respected micro economic engines empowering themselves, their families, and their communities through the sheer power of their artistry.
In the 1980s, Flaherty was first introduced to SAR/IARC vault collections by Susan Catherwood of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Along with the works themselves, the robust program of access to the works in the vault made a lasting impression, which ultimately led Flaherty to complete the gift of the Collection to SAR/IARC in April of 2022.
When not travelling or collecting, Flaherty enjoys a worldwide law practice based in Washington, DC, as corporate and tax attorney for charities and major donors. She was the last of nine daughters born in 1955 in Pittsburgh. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband Kevin F. F. Quigley. She has one daughter, Fiona L. Q. Flaherty, born in 2001.
* In the course of her life, Dora was known variously as Dora Gachupin, Dora Tse-Pé , Dora Tse Pé Peña, Dora Peña, and most recently Dora Tse Pe’.
