San Ildefonso Two Tone Large Bowl signed Blue Corn [SOLD]

Blue Corn was a very versatile artist.  She made black pottery, Black-on-black, Polychrome, redware, beige on red, and this rust on beige.  In any combination, she was exceptional.

This jar is remarkable in it soft tone.  The rust color highlights the buckskin softness of the base color.  The vessel lines are soft as is the design.  It is a very soothing work to view.

Crucita Gonzales Calabaza (1921-1999) Blue Corn was born in San Ildefonso around 1923 and was encouraged by her grandmother, at an early age, to "forget school and become a potter." Blue Corn obviously succeeded as illustrated by this exceptional bowl.  It is signed Blue Corn San Ildefonso Pueblo on the base.

Blue Corn and her husband, Sandy, spent two years in the 1960s experimenting with slips to revive the 19th-century Polychrome wares of San Ildefonso Pueblo. She stone-polished the base slip in the manner it was done before introduction of the Cochiti slip in 1905, which required only rag polishing. In doing this, she achieved a highly-burnished finish. To this she applied the matte paint design at which she was so adept.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from a family from Albuquerque

Recommended Reading: Pottery by American Indian Women: The Legacy of Generations by Susan Peterson