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Circular Shallow Bowl
Accession # 43.201.198
Culture Po-who-ge-oweenge (San Ildefonso Pueblo)
Artist Maria Martinez
Artist Julian Martinez
Title Circular Shallow Bowl
Date ca. 1943
Medium Clay, slip
Dimensions height: 2 3/8 in. (6 cm) diameter: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm) mount: 13 1/2 × 13 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (34.3 × 34.3 × 14 cm)
Signed "Marie and Julian"
Credit Line Anonymous gift in memory of Dr. Harlow Brooks
Location American Identities: Everyday Life / A Nation Divided
Description Platter-shaped bowl with highly polished black on black circular feather design radiating from the center and framed with four black lines. Condition: good.

Curatorial Remarks: Utilizing traditional hand-coiling techniques, vessel forms, and open-trench firing, Maria Martinez invented a unique style of pottery featuring black-on-black designs (as seen here), which had never been done before.

Martinez began potting to provide income for her family, collaborating with her husband, Julian, and later her son, Popovi Da, as painters. She eventually became world-famous, attracting visits from Japanese masters who wanted to learn her techniques. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., invited her to help with the dedication of New York’s Rockefeller Plaza in 1933.