#Po-Woh-Geh-Owingeh

[brooklynmuseum]

Maria Martinez was among the best-known Pueblo potters of the 20th century. She pioneered the black-on-black style seen on this olla (water jar) in the 1910s without using a potter's wheel or glaze. Martinez built her vessels using hand-coiling techniques she had learned watching other Pueblo potters; then, natural materials, extensive polishing, and a specific firing process were used to create the matte designs and glossy surface. The designs combine Ancestral Pueblo practices with that of modern Pueblo, even incorporating certain elements of the Art Deco movement popular at the time through shape and geometric form. Based at the foot of the Black Mesa in Po-Woh-Geh-Owingeh (San Idelfonso Pueblo), Martinez created pottery as works of art, often to be sold to non-Native people traveling through New Mexico. Her work continues to inspire artists today, including Jeffrey Gibson, who has referenced her black-on-black style in his own ceramics.

See this olla on view in Out of Place: A Feminist Look at the Collection through January 3.

Posted by Forrest Pelsue Maria Martinez (Po-who-ge-oweenge (San Ildefonso Pueblo), New Mexico, 1887–1980). Olla (Water Jar), circa 1923. Ceramic. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Graham and Megan Marks in memory of Barbara and Fred Marks, 2013.100.4.