Montoya, Tomasita – Carved Oval Bowl with Cloud and Water Designs (1960’s)

5.25" long x 4"w x 3.5"h

$ 200.00

This is an unusual oval bowl by Tomasita Montoya.  She was one of the early revivalists in San Juan pottery. This bowl is both incised and carved.  It is oval in shape and the rim and base are fully polished red.  The design has clouds, water, and lightning designs.  On one side there is a single band of rain design that is slipped black over the white.  The lighter incised areas surround the more deeply carved imagery.  The deeper carved designs became more prominent at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the late 1940s and ’50s.  The bowl is in excellent condition with no cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed, “Tomasita Montoya” on the bottom. 

Tomasita was one of the original Eight San Juan potters who revived the art form in the 1930s.  The Pueblo was renown for their pottery but by about 1890 there were no potters left. In 1930 Regina Cata organized a pottery study group at San Juan Pueblo with the intent of revitalizing pottery production. The group studied ancient potsherds of wares made at San Juan in earlier times and selected Potsuwi‘i Incised Ware (1450-1500) as a basis for a contemporary pottery type.

“Revival Rising” Ohkay Owingeh Pottery 1930s-60s