Crucita Gonzales aka Blue Corn San Ildefonso Pueblo Pottery
Redware bowl with a sharp shoulder encircling polychrome feather design on black by Crucita Gonzales Calabaza aka Bue Corn (1921 - 1999).
Excellent condition
Approximately 2-3/4 inch height by 4-1/2 inch width
Blue Corn is famous for re-introducing San Ildefonso polychrome wares which had become a lost product after the blackware of Maria and Julian had become in such demand in the 1920s. She also made blackware and redware, though Blue Corn is especially noted for her finely polished slips and her experiments with clays and colors, creating exceptional polychrome pottery.
Crucita Gonzales Calabaza (1921-1999) Blue Corn was born in San Ildefonso around 1923 and was encouraged by her grandmother, at an early age, to "forget school and become a potter." She did attend school at the pueblo and later at the Santa Fe Indian School, however. At age 20, she married Santiago (Sandy) Calabazas, a Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) silversmith. During the 1940s, she worked at Los Alamos as a housecleaner for J. Robert Oppenheimer. Shortly after World War II, she took up pottery making and found her calling.
In 1981 she won the "Governor's Award", which is New Mexico's highest artistic honor. Blue Corn Pottery was so exacting and innovative in her designs that over a decade after her passing, her pottery continues to be influential and highly sought after. In both a testament to her skill as a potter and a reflection of her creativity, she was posthumously awarded the 2008 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by SWAIA and her work can also be found in "Legacy of Generations".
Info by Adobe Gallery, King Gallery, and appraiser.
Redware bowl with a sharp shoulder encircling polychrome feather design on black by Crucita Gonzales Calabaza aka Bue Corn (1921 - 1999).
Excellent condition
Approximately 2-3/4 inch height by 4-1/2 inch width
Blue Corn is famous for re-introducing San Ildefonso polychrome wares which had become a lost product after the blackware of Maria and Julian had become in such demand in the 1920s. She also made blackware and redware, though Blue Corn is especially noted for her finely polished slips and her experiments with clays and colors, creating exceptional polychrome pottery.
Crucita Gonzales Calabaza (1921-1999) Blue Corn was born in San Ildefonso around 1923 and was encouraged by her grandmother, at an early age, to "forget school and become a potter." She did attend school at the pueblo and later at the Santa Fe Indian School, however. At age 20, she married Santiago (Sandy) Calabazas, a Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) silversmith. During the 1940s, she worked at Los Alamos as a housecleaner for J. Robert Oppenheimer. Shortly after World War II, she took up pottery making and found her calling.
In 1981 she won the "Governor's Award", which is New Mexico's highest artistic honor. Blue Corn Pottery was so exacting and innovative in her designs that over a decade after her passing, her pottery continues to be influential and highly sought after. In both a testament to her skill as a potter and a reflection of her creativity, she was posthumously awarded the 2008 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by SWAIA and her work can also be found in "Legacy of Generations".
Info by Adobe Gallery, King Gallery, and appraiser.
Redware bowl with a sharp shoulder encircling polychrome feather design on black by Crucita Gonzales Calabaza aka Bue Corn (1921 - 1999).
Excellent condition
Approximately 2-3/4 inch height by 4-1/2 inch width
Blue Corn is famous for re-introducing San Ildefonso polychrome wares which had become a lost product after the blackware of Maria and Julian had become in such demand in the 1920s. She also made blackware and redware, though Blue Corn is especially noted for her finely polished slips and her experiments with clays and colors, creating exceptional polychrome pottery.
Crucita Gonzales Calabaza (1921-1999) Blue Corn was born in San Ildefonso around 1923 and was encouraged by her grandmother, at an early age, to "forget school and become a potter." She did attend school at the pueblo and later at the Santa Fe Indian School, however. At age 20, she married Santiago (Sandy) Calabazas, a Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) silversmith. During the 1940s, she worked at Los Alamos as a housecleaner for J. Robert Oppenheimer. Shortly after World War II, she took up pottery making and found her calling.
In 1981 she won the "Governor's Award", which is New Mexico's highest artistic honor. Blue Corn Pottery was so exacting and innovative in her designs that over a decade after her passing, her pottery continues to be influential and highly sought after. In both a testament to her skill as a potter and a reflection of her creativity, she was posthumously awarded the 2008 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by SWAIA and her work can also be found in "Legacy of Generations".
Info by Adobe Gallery, King Gallery, and appraiser.