Black-on-black Jar signed Marie, circa early 1920s [SOLD]

Marie and Julian Martinez worked together producing pottery from the early 1900s—she making the beautiful Tewa shape vessels and he painting beautiful designs in traditional polychrome style.

Maria and Julian began experimenting in the blackware and produced the first pieces in 1918. They had pretty well perfected the technique within a couple years. By the early 1920s, production was well underway with the Museum of New Mexico purchasing all the early pieces. By 1923, Maria was signing her name to her work. At first, she signed simply Marie, not to give full credit to herself, but because tradition dictated it. Pottery production was woman’s work, so her name was all that appeared, even though Julian contributed to the pieces. It was not until around 1925 that Julian’s name began to appear—the justification being that he was an artist painting a design, and not doing woman’s work of making pottery.

The truncated shape of this small jar was an early development that proved very popular. The in-sloping upper half of the vessel provided a visible surface for Julian to paint a design. In this example, Julian painted a design that would eventually develop into the Avanyu (water serpent) he later used. Notice the three-pronged elements on the interior of the volute. This later became the horns of the Avanyu.

This jar is in remarkable good condition considering it is around 85 years old. The burnishing is still highly polished and the design is strong. There are three scratches at the top of the rim and a few minor scratches on the polished underside, but those are to be expected on pieces of this age. The jar is signed Marie.