San Ildefonso Pueblo Pottery By Maria and Julian; Signed "Marie"

Signed "Marie"

ca 1923-1925

Size 3.25" H x 6" D

Maria's first signature, "Marie", is the hardest to find as it was used in her shortest signature period, ca 1923-1925, after-which she added Julian's name to the pottery through 1943. 

Low bowl / jar form with rounded sides. Black on black with geometric designs. Good / Very Good for this period. 

Light wear on the rim and on the signature area. Paint is strong and even overall.  The interior has a bit of discoloration. Very handsome jar. 

Maria Poveka Montoya Martinez (c. 1887–1980) was a Tewa artist from San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, celebrated for reviving and innovating Pueblo pottery. She learned traditional pottery techniques from her aunt, Nicolasa Peña Montoya, starting around age 11. With her husband, Julian Martinez, she developed the iconic black-on-black pottery style around 1918–1919, characterized by a glossy black finish with matte designs, achieved through a unique oxygen-reduction firing process using smothered fires with manure. This technique transformed red clay pots to black, with designs like the avanyu (horned water serpent), feathers, and geometric patterns inspired by ancestral Pueblo motifs.