Adelphia Martinez Circular Lidded Blackware Box

Adelphia Martinez's Masterwork: an Unconventional Circular Blackware Pottery Box

This circular lidded blackware pottery box was created by artist Adelphia Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo. This is an inventive and unusual form, and it was executed with skill and style. It's a round box with a lid, which sits comfortably within the main piece and can be picked up by the small, raised handle. The lid's edge lines up perfectly with that of the box.

The polished exterior looks and feels beautiful, as does the matte-finished interior. The lid's handle is polished on the top and matte-finished on the neck. The piece is quite impressive and also notably unique—we see pottery boxes in various shapes and sizes from time to time, but a circular form is most unusual. We have not handled Adelphia Martinez' work previously, so this piece is a wonderful introduction.

The bottom of the jar is signed Adelphia, San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Adelphia Martinez (1935-2022) was a San Ildefonso Pueblo potter. Martinez was the daughter of painter Louis Wo-Peen Gonzales and potter Juanita Gonzales. Martinez learned how to make pottery in the 1950s from her mother and her aunt, Rose Gonzales. She exhibited widely and received many significant awards for her work, including a first prize at Santa Fe Indian Market. Martinez' works include black-on-black and redware bowls, jars, and plates; she also experimented with micaceous clay and sgraffito designs.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Adelphia Martinez Circular Lidded Blackware Box is from a private Santa Fe collection

Reference: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies, Gregory Schaaf

TAGS: San Ildefonso Pueblo, Louis Wo-Peen Gonzalez, Rose Gonzales, Pueblo Pottery, Juanita Gonzales, Adelphia Martinez