San Ildefonso Gunmetal Polished Plain Blackware Bowl By Maria Poveka Montoya Martinez

ca. 1956 - 1965 3.625" H x 5.125" D Hand Built from Native Clay in Plain Gunmetal Blackware and Native Fired Polished Closed Bowl of Compressed Globular Form Signed Maria Poveka with Old price of $135 Noted on Base in Pencil In Excellent Condition From a Private Estate Collection Please contact us for additional information Maria Martinez, from San Ildefonso Pueblo (New Mexico), is one of the most influential Native American potters of the 20th century. In the 1910s–1920s, she and her husband Julian revived and innovated ancient Pueblo black-on-black techniques after being inspired by excavated sherds from the Pajarito Plateau. Maria handled coiling and polishing; Julian often added matte designs on the polished surface.By the mid-1950s, she created many plain polished blackware pieces (no painted decoration), signing them with "Maria Poveka." These emphasize perfect symmetry, thin walls, and a mirror-like or metallic polish achieved through laborious stone polishing and controlled firing. The gunmetal variant is especially valued for its subtle silvery tones that can shift with light.