San Ildefonso Polychrome Olla, c.1905

Item: NOPT1403C
Material: native clay
Size: 9 1/2" x 12" diameter
Period: Historic
Origin: San Ildefonso Pueblo

At the beginning of the 1900's San Ildefonso pottery traditions experienced a number of notable changes thanks to a particular pottery making couple, Martina Vigil and Florentino Montoya. The predecessors to Maria & Julian Martinez, this couple fled a Tuberculosis outbreak at the Pueblo around 1903 and moved to Cochiti where they had family. While living at Cochiti the couple learned to produce a slip from bentonite clay that cold be applied with a rag or a small scrap of sheep's wool. This change from stone polishing surfaces to rag slipped surfaces created a more consistent surface for painting and saved an immense amount of time in the process. When Martina and Florentino returned to San Ildefonso a few years later they shared this technique and it was adopted immediately. This particular olla features a rag slipped surface and a distinctive form typical of Martina and Florentino's work.

SOLD

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