NEHMA | Collection

Maria Martinez

Native American
(1887–1980)

Plate
Date unknown

Earthenware
1.5 x 13 x 13 in.
Gift of the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation
1984.1458

The production process was complex and could require weeks to create. María and Julian’s distinctive style combined a glossy and matte surface. First, they gathered clay and volcanic ash from the land surrounding the pueblo. Mixing these materials together created the basic clay body which was shaped with traditional gourd tools. Once dried, the surface of was highly polished with a river stone. Julian, an accomplished painter and water colorist, would use liquid clay to paint the desired contrasting matte surface design.

Once the object had dried, María and Julian’s firing process determined the coloring of the clay. In Plate, the black coloring is achieved through a reduction firing process, which reduces the oxygen in the firing pit by smothering the flames with dry horse dung. This causes a chemical reaction by trapping the carbon, which blackens the clay body with the trapped smoke.

Matthew Limb

Keywords
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This object has the following keywords:

blocks*, feathers*, Native American, Tewa pottery

blocks - Solid masses or hollow units having approximately flat faces.
feathers - The component structures of the outer covering and flight surfaces of all modern birds and some dinosaurs, apparently having evolved from the scales of reptilian ancestors. The many different types of feathers are variously specialized for insulation, flight, formation of body contours, display, and sensory reception. The typical feather consists of a central shaft (rachis), with serial paired branches (barbs) forming a flattened, usually curved surface (the vane). The barbs possess further branches, the barbules.
Native American
Tewa pottery

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Female + Form , 6/17/2013 - 3/17/2014
Transcendence: Abstraction & Symbolism in the American West , 9/1/2015 - 12/10/2016
Better Days 2020: Native American Pottery , 5/25/2019 - 12/19/2020
Unearthed , 8/23/2022 - 5/14/2023
SC Fall 24 - Native American Ceramics of the Southwest , 8/13/2024 - 5/2/2025

Also found in

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This object is a member of the following portfolios:

Unearthed | The NEHMA Ceramics Collection & The Woman Behind It

Ceramics

Unearthed | María Martínez

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Santana Martinez

Maria Martinez