In the 1950s Maria Martinez created a series of pieces that were simply stone polished with no design.  As she primarily made the pottery and polished it this was fitting with the other pieces of her career.  This bowl is highly polished and fired a striking metallic gunmetal coloration from the firing.  It has that “mirror-like” surface for which Maria was famous.  The bowl is signed in the clay, “Maria Poveka”.  This is a combination of her Anglo and Tewa names.  Her name, “Poveka” means “Water Lilly”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  There was a sticker on the bottom of when it was purchased in 1961, which I left of the base.

Maria Martinez Signatures