Barbara Gonzales Polished Black Domed Jar with Spider Design

This polished black and sienna jar, created in 1982, has an intricate spider web on the domed top.  Near the edge of the web, the potter inscribed small designs which are highlighted by the sienna color. There are adobe buildings, clouds, kiva steps and several incised small arrowheads inset within the web.  The center of the dome features a large spider with coral for the head and turquoise for the body.  The bottom of the jar is stone polished and signed with Barbara's Tewa name — Tahn Moo Whe, below which is inscribed three clouds and the number 3 and year 82.

Barbara left a small dab of clay on the interior so that when one shakes the pot, it rattles.  It is not likely that this was a mistake but was deliberate.

Barbara Gonzales (1947- ) Tahn Moo Whe is an excellent potter and an extension of her famous great-grandmother, Maria Martinez, and her grandparents, Adam and Santana Martinez. Her mother, Anita Martinez, was also a potter. Drawing on the traditions of her family, she expanded this tradition by personalizing her pottery with inlaid coral and turquoise on etched black and sienna wares — often inlaid on spider designs which she created in 1973. Early in her career she occasionally made plain black polished pottery, but no longer does so, nor does any other potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Condition: the jar is in very good condition with a few scratches on the bottom only

Provenance: this Barbara Gonzales Polished Black Domed Jar with Spider Design is from the collection of the family to whom we sold this in 2018.

Recommended Reading: The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard L. Spivey (1937 - 2011)

TAGS: San Ildefonso Pueblo, Maria Martinez, Adam and Santana Martinez, Anita Martinez, pottery, Barbara Gonzales