Martínez, María Montoya, 1885-1980

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1885
Death 1980-07-20
Gender:
Female
Americans, Native Americans

Biographical notes:

Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico was a well- known potter.

From the description of Maria Montoya Martinez letter to Jim Riley, 1954 November 22. (Museum of New Mexico Library). WorldCat record id: 37992663

Maria Martinez (1887-1980) was an internationally-known potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo. With her husband Julian and the rest of her family, she created contemporary pottery inspired by traditional Pueblo styles and techniques. The family demonstrated their craft at expositions, world's fairs, and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC.

From the "Photographs of Maria Martinez (undated) finding aid, the National Anthropolocal Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Maria Montoya Martinez (1887, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980, San Ildefonso Pueblo) was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. Martinez (born Maria Poveka Montoya), her husband Julian, and other family members, including her son Popovi Da, examined traditional Pueblo pottery styles and techniques to create pieces which reflect the Pueblo people's legacy of fine artwork and crafts. The works of Maria Martinez, and especially her black ware pottery, survive in many museums, including the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, and more. The Penn Museum in Philadelphia holds eight vessels – three plates and five jars – signed either "Marie" or "Marie &emp; Julian".

Maria Martinez was from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, a community located 20 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. At an early age, she learned pottery skills from her aunt and recalls this "learning by seeing" starting at age eleven, as she watched her aunt, grandmother, and father's cousin work on their pottery during the 1890s. During this time, Spanish tinware and Anglo enamelware had become readily available in the Southwest, making the creation of traditional cooking and serving pots less necessary. Traditional pottery making techniques were being lost, but Martinez and her family experimented with different techniques and helped preserve the cultural art. 

From Wikipedia article on Maria Martinez, accessed October 11, 2021

Alternate names include:

Poveka; Maria Poveka Martinez; Maria Montoya Martinez; Maria Povera Martinez; Maria; Poh've'ka; Maria; Antonia Montoya; Maria Montoya; Maria Povera Martínez; Maria Montoya Poveka Martinez; María Martínez; Maria Montoya Martinez; Maria Martinez

Wikidata, "Maria Martinez", accessed October 11, 2021

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Subjects:

  • Indian pottery
  • Potters
  • Pottery
  • Pottery, American
  • Pueblo art
  • Pueblo pottery
  • Tewa pottery

Occupations:

  • Artist
  • Ceramicists
  • Potters

Places:

  • San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM, US
  • San Ildefonso Pueblo (N.M.) (as recorded)
  • San Ildefonso Pueblo (N.M.) (as recorded)
  • New Mexico--San Ildefonso (as recorded)
  • San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM, US
  • San Ildefonso Pueblo (N.M.) (as recorded)

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