1) Maria Martinez, born in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico on 1887 to July 20, 1980 (aged 92 to 93), was a Puebloan artist who created internationally known pottery.
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2) Her aunt, Nicolasa, taught her clay work. Martinez and all four of her sisters made pottery. She recalls this “learning by seeing” starting at age eleven, as she watched her family members work.
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3) Her husband Julian & other family members, including her son Popovi Da, examined traditional Pueblo pottery styles & techniques to create pieces which reflect the Pueblo people’s legacy of fine arts.
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4) During the 1890s, Spanish tinware and Anglo enamelware had become readily available in the Southwestern United States, making the creation of traditional cooking and serving pots less necessary.
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5) She used a firing technique called “reduction firing,” which darkens the clay body. She used variations of her signature on her pots throughout her lifetime, which help date the pieces of the art.
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6) Her work is in many museums, including the Smithsonian, the Met, the DAM, and more. She also received honorary doctorates during her lifetime. In 2022, she was included in a book by Ferren Gipson.
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