Aguilar, Joe – Terrace Bowl with Avanyus (1950’s)

10.5"w x 4"h

$ 800.00

This is certainly one of the most exceptional pieces we have seen by Joe Aguilar.  He began his career painting pottery for his mother, Susana Aguilar,  He also made pottery with his wife, Rosalie, through the 1940’s.  In the 1950’s, after the passing of Rosalie, he created a fascinating group of polychrome pottery including both plates and vessels.  He was one of the few potters at the time still using traditional techniques for the polychrome or black-on-white pottery. This unique piece is a terraced bowl. The mountain steps are on one side and the center of the bowl is meant to represent the lake below the mountains. There are two avanyu painted along the interior sides of the bowl.  The bowl was traditionally fired and there is a slight dark cast to the cream-colored clay due to the smoke in the firing. The interesting part of the firing, however, is that on the bottom you can see fingerprints of where he handled the bowl before it was fired!  The bowl is in very good condition with no cracks, restoration or repair.   It is signed on the bottom, “Joe Aguilar”.

Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators -1920-1940