Black-on-black Jar with Avanyu signed Marie [SOLD]

The earliest signed pottery by Maria Martinez was signed simply Marie.  It was pottery made by Maria and painted by Julian.  It did not have Julian’s name on the jar because, in the 1920s, pottery making was considered woman’s work.  It was several years before it was rationalized that painting pottery, as was being done by the men, was not the same as making pottery, so by 1925, Maria started adding Julian’s name with hers on their joint ventures.  Pottery with the name Marie, was made mostly between 1920 and 1924.

Julian’s early pottery designs were geometric in style.  His use of the Avanyu as a design element was later.  This jar was probably from the later period of the Marie signature era, which would be around 1924. 

The Avanyu is a mythological creature believed to live under the arroyos and responsible for bringing water down the arroyo to the fields.  It is an important creature for that reason and is one used frequently on pottery from San Ildefonso Pueblo.  All members of the Martinez family—Julian, Popovi Da, Tony Da, Santana—used the Avanyu in pottery design.

Condition: very good condition with some scratches as would be expected on a vessel approaching 100 years of age.  The signature is very clear and preserved.

Recommended Reading:  The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard Spivey.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Provenance: from a family collection from Missouri