San Ildefonso Polychrome Jar signed Carmelita [SOLD]

Carmelita Dunlap (1925-1999) was the daughter of Juanita and Romando Vigil of San Ildefonso Pueblo.  Juanita was a sister of Maria Martinez and she passed away when Carmelita was very young.  Juanita’s two sisters, Maria Martinez and Desideria Montoya, raised her.  She took turns staying with Maria for a few months and then with Desideria for a few months.  She learned to make pottery by watching Maria and Desideria at work.

Carmelita lived in California in the early 1950s while her dad worked for Walt Disney Studios.  In 1955, she moved back to San Ildefonso and began seriously focusing on pottery.  In 1974, she was one of the pueblo potters invited by President and Mrs. Nixon to visit the White House and one of her large pots was displayed at that time at the Smithsonian Institution.

Carmelita, her son Carlos, and potter Blue Corn were the only potters at San Ildefonso who regularly produced polychrome pottery.  Most other potters were producing blackware at that time.  Carmelita had three daughters, all potters, to carry on her tradition.

This low and wide jar was made by Carmelita and signed and dated 1978.  The entire surface was covered in cream slip and then decorated with two bands of design.  The upper band, around the rim, has a mixture of eagle feathers in black and arrows in red.  The band below the mid-body has a band of clouds executed in red and outlined in black.  This jar is signed and dated.

Condition: structurally in excellent condition.  Some overpaint to areas of the design that were abraded or worn.

Recommended Reading: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

Provenance: from a private collection