Rare Vintage Maria Martinez San Ildefonso Native American Small Pottery Jar

Description: Maria Martinez, the most renowned Native American Pueblo pottery maker in the world. This classic blackware pottery jar has a beautiful gunmetal polish. She is known for her perfection of the black on black pottery technique. Artisan: Maria Poveka Montoya Martinez (1887-1980)Circa: Circa: 1956 - 1959 Signed: Maria PovekaMeasures: 2.75" tall x 4.25" wide Ceramic historian Susan Peterson describes the process: “Black pottery making involves six distinct processes, each one as important as the other for the finished process. The first is finding and collecting the clay; second, forming the pot by hand; third, scraping and sanding the pot to remove surface irregularities; fourth, applying the iron-bearing slip and burnishing to a high sheen with a smooth stone; fifth, decorating the pot with another slip; and, lastly, the firing.” This last step uses a reduction firing process where the oxygen is reduced in the fire, causing the vessel to turn black. Maria often made small pieces of pottery without the assistance of her husband, her son, or her daughter-in-law. These are always plain, polished, undecorated pieces and are usually quite spectacular and affordable. They are signed Maria Poveka. The signature Maria Poveka on undecorated blackware, according to Richard Spivey, was a signature started in 1956 and abandoned in the mid-1960s, so it lasted only a decade. However, in 1959, Popovi Da started adding a date to the pottery signatures, even those signed Maria Poveka. That fact would shorten the date of undated Maria Poveka pottery to the 1956-1959 dates. Reference: Adobe Gallery

Price: 2550 USD

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

End Time: 2025-01-02T01:08:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD