San Ildefonso Pueblo Buff-on-red Jar signed Marie [SOLD]

The northern Tewa Pueblos of San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Santa Clara had a long tradition of black pottery and Maria and Julian are responsible for greatly improving it, not inventing it.  Of course, blackware starts out as redware before firing.  Their discovery of how to achieve Black-on-black was realized by Maria and Julian in 1918-1920 and it was this that made them internationally famous.  It was also the beginning of a revival in interest in pottery from the pueblos.  It was also at this time that Julian, an accomplished artist, started painting designs on Maria’s pottery.

This jar is typical of a vessel shape achieved by Maria in the early 1920s and was a size she was very capable of producing.  Julian is responsible for outlining the design in the cream colored lines overlaid on the polished red slip.  Additional red slip was applied inside the designs outlined by Julian but were left in matte state, not polished.  This is a major example of redware pottery by Maria and Julian from early in their career.

The jar is signed Marie, an early signature used by Maria when Julian painted the designs.  His name was omitted in the beginning because pottery production was woman’s work.  It was several years before she and he understood that he was a painter, not a potter, so adding his name was acceptable. 

There is one example in Spivey’s book on Maria that illustrates a matte design on a polished red vessel. If one were to see this jar without being told it was by Maria and Julian, one would expect it to be from Santa Clara Pueblo.  If it was not signed Marie into the clay body, it would not be identified as their work.

Condition: structurally, the jar is in excellent condition.  There is water damage from the base up about 2 inches of the wall.  It is the type damage seen when water has been in the jar.  Fortunately, the red slip is not completely lost in that area, only the burnishing is missing.  The remaining red slip is in a matte state.  The damage is not generally visible because the clay is still red and the damage is on the inside curve so looking at the jar from a top view or side view does not reveal the loss of slip. 

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Pennsylvania

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