Black-on-black Low and Wide Bowl signed Marie [SOLD]

In the very early years of the production of Black-on-black wares by Maria and Julian, only her name was put on the pottery and she used the name Marie.  Julian painted the designs on these pieces but it was not considered necessary that his name be included.  In fact, it was not even considered necessary or desirable by Maria that her name be on the pottery.

Pueblo people have always worked as a community and made an effort for no single individual to stand out from the others.  Maria was making pottery, as were other women at the pueblo, and she did not want to stand out from her friends.  She signed her wares because she was told to as a condition for it to be sold.  Pottery made by the women for pueblo use was never signed because each potter knew what she made and other potters knew what she made too so signatures were unnecessary.

This bowl, signed with only the name Marie, was made by Maria and decorated by Julian with a favorite design of his—the Avanyu.  The Avanyu is a symbol painted on paper by most of the early 20^th-century San Ildefonso painters, long before it was being put on pottery.  It is an important legendary figure within the pueblo.

The shape of the bowl is probably one familiar to Maria as a traditional eating or serving bowl.  It is the same shape often seen in earlier food bowls.

Condition: structurally in excellent condition with a few scratches that are to be expected in a black bowl made around 1940.

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Pennsylvania

Reference and Recommended Reading: The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard L. Spivey, 2003