Black-on-black Bowl Signed Maria/Popovi 264 [SOLD]

Maria Martinez (1887-1980) and her son Popovi Da (1922-1971) collaborated on pottery production from 1956-1970.  Popovi at first assisted his mother with gathering and working the clay—the labor intensive portion of the production of pottery.  Later, she encouraged him to paint and, over time, he became very proficient at it.  Popovi was a perfectionist and could not settle for producing anything less than what he considered perfect.  He expressed that he wished he had more time to make more pottery, but his duties as a husband, father, business man, and Pueblo leader allowed only enough time for him to assist his mother.  His wife once said that Popovi planned to concentrate on making pottery by himself once his mother was gone but would assist her as long as she lived, but Maria outlived Popovi so we will never know just how creative he could have been had he lived.

Popovi was a genius and a perfectionist and, with Maria, produced some of the finest blackware pottery ever made.  The decade he worked with his mom was the pinnacle of San Ildefonso Black-on-black pottery.  The burnishing was the best, the designs were the best and the overall quality was unequalled.

According to Spivey, when Popovi started working with his mom, the signature became "Maria/Popovi" and there was no date on the piece but, in 1959, Popovi started adding a date to their joint efforts.  This bowl is signed Maria/Popovi and dated 264 (February 1964).

Condition:  original condition

Provenance: from an Albuquerque gentleman

Recommended Reading: The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard L. Spivey