Very Large San Ildefonso Polychrome Storage Jar [SOLD]

As Jonathan Batkin has well documented, there were several outstanding potters at San Ildefonso Pueblo during the 1890s whose work can fairly accurately be associated with their names. Following publication of Batkin's studies, it has become easier today to identify late 19th and early 20th century pottery to artists with some degree of accuracy, or so we hope. One husband and wife team, who were extraordinary artisans, was Martina Montoya Vigil and Florentino Montoya.

Martina and Florentino have been praised as among the finest artisans at San Ildefonso. Batkin has illustrated a couple of their works in his book Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940, and he illustrated additional ones in a 1987 issue of American Indian Art Magazine article “Martina Vigil and Florentino Montoya: Master Potters of San Ildefonso and Cochiti Pueblos.”

When Maria Martinez was a little girl, she used to watch Florentino and Martina make pots. "Their styles and techniques influenced Maria in her methods of pottery making.  Maria Martinez later recalled him: “But this Florentino, he was old, and he painted, oh, very good.”  Spivey, 1979:23

In the summer of 1999, the world record for the highest price paid for a single pot in the Western Hemisphere was attributed to Martina and Florentino and sold for $96,000. In this pot, Martina demonstrated her skill at making huge pots. It was almost two feet in diameter. The quality of its construction was exceptional, featuring a graceful shape and elegant form.  Schaaf, 2000:230. 

One must remember Martina and Florentino passed away in 1916 and 1918 respectively.  This was long before pottery of such mastery was made for sale to tourists or collectors.

This storage jar featured here is over 20 inches in diameter, close in size to the large jar mentioned above.  It has been attributed to this talented couple based on several factors.  They are known to have made such large vessels in the late 1800s and several design elements on this jar are related to elements on pottery in Batkin’s articles.

Tonita’s mother was Toña Peña Vigil and she too was an outstanding potter.  One of the vessels in Batkin’s 1987 magazine article has cross hatching in stepped pyramid forms similar to those on this jar, so it is conceivable that she could have been the influence for Martina and Florentino in design selection for this jar.  Florentino also often assisted Toña with her pottery. The large triangles pendant from the shoulder framing line are similar to those on other vessels known to have been made by them.

In 1895, when this jar was most likely made, Martina and Florentino were probably the best potters at San Ildefonso.  They moved to Cochiti Pueblo in 1905 and began using Cochiti bentonite slip which required only rag polishing, not stone polishing as had to be done on the San Ildefonso slip.  This jar appears to have stone polished cream slip so it would have been made before 1905.

This jar was beautifully painted with black and red on cream background.  There are elements pendant from the shoulder framing line and pointing downward and there are elements resting on the lower framing line and pointing upwards.  The cross hatching black lines in the stepped pyramidal forms was a design element of this family, possibly created by Florentino for his mother-in-law, Toña. 

We have chosen to attribute this magnificent storage jar to Martina and Florentino but it must be appreciated on its own merits.  It is a fantastic jar, exquisitely constructed and beautifully designed and painted.  Whether Martina and Florentino made it or not is unimportant as the jar is a masterpiece regardless of the maker. 

Condition: presently in excellent condition. Photographs provided by the previous owner show the condition before recent professional conservation. It appears that several large sections had broken off and been glued back in place. All the sections were whole and were professionally repositioned in place without the need for plaster. The jar is now spectacularly beautiful and structurally sound.

References:

Pottery of the Pueblos of New Mexico 1700-1940 by Jonathan Batkin

“Martina Vigil and Florentino Montoya: Master Potters of San Ildefonso and Cochiti Pueblos,” by Jonathan Batkin, American Indian Art Magazine, Autumn, 1987.

Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf.

The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard Spivey.

Provenance: from a gentleman in California