San Ildefonso Pueblo Tall Neck Buff on Red Pottery Jar by Maria and Julian Martinez [SOLD]

This San Ildefonso Pueblo tall neck buff-on-red jar was made by Maria Martinez and the design was painted by her husband, Julian.  As was customary in the 1920s, Maria signed her name, Marie, on the base, omitting Julian’s name because pottery, at the time, was considered “women's work” and it was not proper for men to do women's work.  It was only after the director of the Museum of New Mexico explained to Maria that painting the design was not women’s work but the work of a painter, which was quite acceptable as work by men, that she then added his name along with hers on their work.

In the late 1800s, men at San Ildefonso often painted designs on the Polychrome wares of their wives or mothers or other relatives.  Crescencio Martinez, Florentino Montoya, Alfredo Montoya, Joe Aguilar, Julian Martinez and other men painted pottery for women of the pueblo.  Some women, however, did paint their own pottery, as well. The signature, Marie, indicates that Julian painted this one for her.

Maria Martinez lived her life in two worlds—as a famous potter, perhaps the best potter anywhere in the world, and as a Pueblo Indian woman living the simple life of such.  She shared her world as a pueblo woman with those not of that world and, in doing so, enriched all of us. She was a part of her culture and did not seek special attention but shared her fame with others in her pueblo. The concept of individual achievement was not a part of her culture.  The focus was on the group, not on an individual.   

Redware pottery at San Ildefonso was not as often produced at the time because black pottery was unique to collectors and was in much more demand than red.  As a result, there are many fewer red pottery works from the early twentieth century than there are black and Black-on-black wares. It is quite likely that this jar was made between 1924 and 1928.

Spivey states that Maria and Julian had perfected the Black-on-black process by 1921 and the Buff-on-red by 1924. Spivey,2003;35  

Condition: the San Ildefonso Pueblo Tall Neck Buff on Red Pottery Jar by Maria and Julian Martinez is in very good condition with the expected amount of scratches for a jar over 100 years old.  

Provenance: we sold this jar in 2000 to a family in Connecticut from whom we now have it back, after 19 years, to sell again

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

Relative Links: Pueblo Pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Popovi Da, Santana and Adam Martinez, Julian Martinez, Maria Martinez