Mary Martin Pottery Frog Figurine [SOLD]

This piece is a classic polychrome ceramic storyteller figure by Mary Martin (1927-2011) Tsiranitsia of Cochiti Pueblo. While Cochiti storytellers usually depict human figures (typically grandfathers or grandmothers surrounded by children), Mary Martin became particularly known for expanding into whimsical animal storytellers — most notably frogs.

The theme is a central mother or parent frog with its mouth wide open in song or story, carrying three small froglets — one clinging to the left, one on the right, and one sitting lower near the base. The main frog's tongue is prominently outstretched in terracotta/orange slip.

The figurine was formed from natural clay and hand-painted using traditional Cochiti natural slips. The cream/light buff background is highlighted with black wild spinach (guaco) paint forming concentric circles and spot motifs across the body, complemented by red-orange clay slip accents on the mouths and tongues.

Frogs hold important symbolic meaning in Pueblo culture, associated with rain, water, fertility, and abundance. Animal storytellers like this bridge Cochiti's late 19th-century tradition of figurative/effigy pottery with the modern storyteller tradition popularized in the 1960s and 70s.

The underside is incised in script: MARY MARTIN / Cochiti Pueblo / N.M. which aligns directly with her standard signature format on base clay.

Mary Martin was a well-regarded Cochiti potter and a granddaughter of Maria Seferina Arquero. Active from the mid-20th century through the early 2000s, her work won various accolades, including ribbons at the New Mexico State Fair. Her frog storytellers remain among her most distinctive and sought-after figurative creations.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Mary Martin Pottery Frog Figurine is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: The Pueblo Storyteller - Development of a Figurative Ceramic Tradition by Barbara Babcock

TAGS: Cochiti Pueblo, figurative pottery, storyteller figurines, Stephanie Rhoades - Snowflake Flower, Ada Suina, Felecita Eustace, Mary Martin