Black-on-black Jar Signed Marie & Santana [R]

This is an exceptional small black jar with an extraordinary burnish. Traditionally, Maria would have made the jar, her sister Clara would have polished it, her daughter-in-law Santana would have painted it, and her son Adam would have fired it. It appears that this was probably the case.

This beautiful Black-on-black jar features cloud designs around the rim. It is a very simple and very elegant Maria and Santana Martinez creation. It is signed Marie + Santana, a signature used between 1943 and 1954. Following the death of Maria’s husband, Julian, in 1943, her daughter-in-law, Santana, began painting the designs on Maria’s pottery for her. This continued for just over a decade, then Maria’s son Popovi Da started helping his mom.

This jar is in excellent condition and dates from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s.

Item Provenance: 
This item was presented in the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center's special exhibit “TIMELESS BEAUTY” in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January-August 2008. This exhibition celebrated the achievements and impact made by some of the most renowned Pueblo women artists on the preservation, exposure, and development of the indigenous and contemporary art forms of Pueblo people. Curated by the IPCC in collaboration with Santa Fe-based Adobe Gallery and the School for Advanced Research, “TIMELESS BEAUTY” showcased a collaborative collection of artwork created by these influential women.