San Ildefonso Black on Black Pottery Jar by Blue Corn [SOLD]

This jar is certainly a major object from the hands of Blue Corn, or Crucita Gonzales Calabaza. It is a traditional jar shape of Tewa form. Blue Corn placed eagle feather designs around the sloped shoulder. The eagle feather design was introduced to collectors in the twentieth century by Julian Martinez. While working at the Museum of New Mexico in the early part of the century, Julian was exposed to a Mimbres bowl that was decorated with the feather design we see today. Julian transferred the design from the interior of the Mimbres bowl to the shallow plates of Maria. It has been a favorite design of potters and collectors for a century.

Blue Corn was born in San Ildefonso Pueblo around 1921. She attended school at the pueblo and later at the Santa Fe Indian School. At age 20, she married Santiago, a Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) silversmith. During the 1940s, she worked at Los Alamos for J. Robert Oppenheimer. Shortly after World War II, she took up pottery making and found her calling.

Blue Corn was 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. She was one of the most honored 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 exhibitions.

Blue Corn lived another 20 years after Maria Martinez passed away and by doing so became the most sought-after potter at San Ildefonso Pueblo. Her house was easily accessible, and she always welcomed visitors, where she would visit and sell her pottery and those of her children.

Condition: very good condition with minor scratches and abrasions.

Provenance: this San Ildefonso Black on Black Pottery Jar by Blue Corn is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: Pottery by American Indian Women: The Legacy of Generations by Susan Peterson

TAGS: Maria and Julian, San Ildefonso, Kewa Pueblo - Santo Domingo, Southwest Indian Pottery, Crucita Gonzales Calabaza - Blue Corn