Polished Black San Ildefonso Pueblo Pottery Bowl by Barbara Gonzales [SOLD]

San Ildefonso Pueblo artist Barbara Gonzales is from a famous family of potters. Drawing on the traditions of her family, she expanded this tradition by personalizing her pottery.  Aficionados of pueblo black pottery are divided by choices of plain polished black with no painted design vs. polished black with matte designs.  Either choice is acceptable and there is no apparent difference in value or desirability, only in availability, as very few plain ones have been made compared to the quantity of painted ones.

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 dose any other potter from San Ildefonso.

This small bowl is polished on the inside, outside and on the bottom.  Inscribed on the bottom is Than-Moo-Whé 73.

Condition: this Polished Black San Ildefonso Pueblo Pottery Bowl by Barbara Gonzales is in pristine condition

Provenance: from a Santa Fe family collection

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

Relative Links: Barbara Gonzales, Maria Martinez, Adam and Santana Martinez, Anita Martinez, Pueblo Pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo