Vintage Reyes Madalena Jemez Pueblo NM VPainted Ceramic Plate with Bird Design, Southwest Pottery
This beautiful vintage plate is by award-winning Jemez Pueblo potter Reyes Madalena (1938 - ). Madalena was teased as a child for her fair skin and blond hair. From the Utah Art Collection Museum biography on Reyes, "Born in the late 1930’s, she grew up with the other Reservation kids calling her 'white girl', which made her dream 'that someday I’m going to do something really Indian,' she recounts. And, sure enough, she’s the only one of her childhood friends who became such an accomplished potter. Her maternal grandmother, Benina Medina Madalena from the Zia Reservation, had been an excellent potter, winning awards in the early 1920’s at the Santa Fe Indian Market. She was the one who essentially reintroduced the art to the Jemez Pueblo Reservation, where the craftsmen had focused on other indigenous crafts Benina taught her daughters pottery which created a wonderful beginning for Madalena, who remembers watching and listening to her mother and aunt making pots. Although they were accomplished, the natural talent Benina possessed resurfaced in Madalena, who uses the same techniques, the same clay sources and the same smooth red jasper stone to burnish her pots to a high sheen. The inheritance of this particular river stone symbolizes the passing on of the knowledge and gift for pottery-making, from grandmother to grand-daughter. Madalena, whose sensitive skin doesn’t tolerate synthetic materials, uses all natural clays and slips. She and her immediate family mine the rock clay themselves, which includes hauling out 100-pound packs on foot over rough trails. One of her greatest moments was discovering the seam of gray clay found in the Four Corners area that yields the fine white pottery which much of her current work is made of. For decades, she searched for its origins. Most clay fires up a reddish or brownish color, so this white clay that her ancestors used was a momentous discovery. Because of this clay’s purity, Madalena is fairly sure that she’s mining the same seam as her ancestors, and this connection excites her." Before I knew anything about the artist, the plate called to me for the charming image of the bird, the bold black on white border around the bird, and the use of a light blue and light yellow in the painting along with more traditional colors of ochre and black. We can see the pin marks on the back of the plate, which are left behind from being set on picks in the kiln. We also see the artist's signature on the back. The back side of the plate is glossy, whereas the front has more of a semi-gloss finish, and you can feel the raised surface of the painted image. We estimate this to be circa 1970s. There is no mechanism by which to hang the plate, but it could be displayed on a plate easel.
The plate measures about 8-3/4" in diameter. There is some discoloration, especially on the back, from age. Signed on the bottom by the artist.
Small yet powerful piece of New Mexico by a celebrated potter.
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Please convo with questions, or call (505) 369-6865. Will return your call as soon as possible.
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For more pottery: https://romaarellano.com/shop/22631891/earthy-pottery-baskets
Hacienda decor: https://romaarellano.com/shop/6877927/hacienda-taos-mexico
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