Black on Black Pottery Ladle by Blue Corn [SOLD]

Crucita Gonzales was born at San Ildefonso in 1921.  She lost both of her parents while she was attending the Santa Fe Indian School.  After graduating from school, she moved to California and lived with relatives, where she worked briefly in a mansion in Beverly Hills.  Returning to New Mexico at the age of 20, she met and married a Santo Domingo man, Santiago (Sandy) Calabazas, who was a silversmith. To supplement their income she worked at Los Alamos for Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer as a domestic maid.

Following her grandmother’s advice, Blue Corn began making pottery after the birth of their first son. Her husband quit making jewelry so he could assist Blue Corn with her pottery.  After the birth of their second son, they moved to Albuquerque. They had no car so they hitchhiked between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, each carrying a child and a box of pottery, so she could sell the pottery in Santa Fe, the better market for doing so.  Eventually, they moved to San Ildefonso Pueblo where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Crucita Gonzales Calabaza (1921-1999) Blue Corn became one of the greatest ceramists of all time. She made pottery for over 60 years. Her house was located across the plaza from that of Maria Martinez but there was no competition between the two artisans. Blue Corn was one of the most honored of 20th-century potters. She received the 1981 New Mexico Governor's Award (New Mexico's highest artistic award!) and she was acclaimed for her artistic accomplishments in the Wall Street Journal and in AMEPNKA, a Soviet Union journal. She won awards at numerous State Fairs, Santa Fe Indian Market, and other art exhibitions.

Blue Corn made all the styles of pottery one associates with San Ildefonso—black-on-black, polished black, redware and, most important, polychrome.  She and Sandy reintroduced polychrome in the mid 20th century.

Because black pottery is fired at a lower temperature than functional pottery, it cannot accept liquids without damage to its polished surface. Therefore, this black-on-black long-handled ladle was made for a decorative purpose only, and not for utilitarian use.

Condition: this Black on Black Pottery Ladle by Blue Corn is in excellent condition

Provenance: from a daughter of Frances Balcomb, owner of several galleries of Native art, the last one closed in the early 1970s.

Recommended Reading: Pueblo Indian Pottery: 750 Artist Biographies, C. 1800-Present by Gregory Schaaf