Olla (Water Jar)

Working in Po-Woh-Geh-Owingeh (San Ildefonso Pueblo), at the foot of the Black Mesa in north-central New Mexico, Maria Martínez invented a unique style of pottery featuring black-on-black designs, building on lessons learned from her maternal aunt’s use of clay.

Instead of a traditional potter’s wheel, Martínez adapted the bottom of an old plate or pot to form the base of the olla, utilizing hand-coiling techniques to build up its walls, a rounded piece of gourd to smooth its surface, stones to polish it, and finally, clay and boiled wild spinach plants to add designs before firing. Despite the lack of glazing, the burnished surface reflects light, throwing the matte abstract forms into subtle contrast.