Shallow Bowl

Maria Martinez learned to make ceramics by watching her elders, and by the age of 13, was already celebrated within the San Ildefonso Pueblo for her skills. Along with her husband, she aided in reviving an ancient local process for creating all-black pottery, as seen in Shallow Bowl. The blackware produced by the pair stood in contrast to popular red or polychrome works and became popular by the 1920s both within and beyond the Pueblo.