Cora Durand

Cora L. Durand (August 23, 1902 - January 23, 1998) was a Picuris Pueblo potter. Durand started working as a potter later in life, beginning in the 1950s. She helped maintain the traditional hand-built method for creating micaceous pottery. Her work is utilitarian and was meant to be used.

Biography Durand was born on August 23, 1902, in Picuris Pueblo, where her father, Miguel Lopez, raised her. Durand married Roland Durand in the 1920s and the couple had four children.

Durand died on January 23, 1998. She was buried in the Picuris Cemetery.

Work Durand's pottery was intended by her to be used and was therefore utilitarian in design. She follows the tradition of the creation of hand-built, micaceous pottery which had been made for many years in Picuris and Taos. She sourced her own clay in the Picuris area. Durand was part of a 1974 Smithsonian Institution exhibition, representing the Picuris Pueblo pottery tradition. Her work was featured in the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in 1996. She passed on her skills to her grandson, Anthony Durand, who started learning from her when he was seven years old.