Adobe Gallery Blog
San Ildefonso Pueblo Interior Design Dough Bowl by Martina Vigil and Florentino Montoya - C3787B
Martina and Florentino would make the little San Ildefonso Pueblo the center of innovative ceramic art. It would be several decades later before Maria and Julian enhanced that reputation. Thanks to extensive research by Jonathan Batkin, the importance of Toña Peña and Martina and Florentino became public knowledge. Their pottery ranks at the top of modern pueblo pottery.
In adopting Cochiti slip around 1910, Martina and Florentino experimented, settling on using a lighter application of the slip than their Keresan potters, who favored a thick application. The result is a grayish undertone. Florentino's designs often display a shift from red to black in alternating patterns on the same element. The floral petals on the design of this bowl are a good example of such. He alternated the exterior petals from solid black to a solid orange outlined in black. The inner petals of the flowers alternate in the same manner.