The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Water Jar (Olla)

Water Jar (Olla)

before 1920
(San Ildefonso Pueblo, about 1887–1980)
Native North America, Southwest, New Mexico
ceramic, slip
Overall: 28.5 x 34 cm (11 1/4 x 13 3/8 in.)
Anonymous Gift 1986.1131
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Maria Martinez of New Mexico’s San Ildefonso Pueblo may be the most famous of all Native American artists.

Description

Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo, perhaps the most famous of all Indigenous artists, was crucial to transforming modern Native American ceramics from utilitarian wares into fine decorative arts. She developed her mastery while young, learning traditional techniques from other Pueblo women. The style for which she is known—lustrous black wares venerated within and outside of Indigenous communities—grew in part from study of ceramic fragments at ancient, Ancestral Pueblo sites. This large, beautifully proportioned water jar is one of her earliest efforts in the style, its dark color imparted by the firing technique.
  • ?-1986
    Gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1986-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Adams, Henry. What's American About American Art?: A Gallery Tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. p. 27
  • Maria & Modernism. Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ (organizer) (February 24-July 28, 2024).
    Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 7-May 30, 2010).
  • {{cite web|title=Water Jar (Olla)|url=false|author=María Martinez|year=before 1920|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.1131