San Ildefonso Jar with Feather Design signed Marie & Santana [SOLD]

Santana Martinez, wife of Adam, oldest son of Maria and Julian Martinez, was an outstanding potter.  It was fortunate for Maria that she was because after Julian passed away in 1943, Santana began helping Maria, doing the design painting that Julian had done in the past.  Santana helped Maria from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s.  During that decade, Maria was signing her pottery with the name Marie, not Maria.  It is because of that we are able to place a date on those pottery that are signed Marie & Santana. 

This jar is typical of the vessel shape Maria made during that time.  It has a flat bottom from which the jar rises and expands to the mid-body, the widest point, and then slopes inward to a graceful neck.  The design was generally placed on the neck as in this jar.  The jar bears the signature Marie & Santana imbedded into the clay bottom. 

Condition: excellent condition

Recommended Reading:  The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard Spivey.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Alexandria, Virginia