San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, Southwest Native American
Ba Tse & Alfredo Montoya
circa 1910
Stone-polished pottery
Height 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm); Diameter 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Indianapolis, for over 30 years; original 1991 letter from Jonathan Batkin, then Director of the Wheelwright Museum, included.
This San Ildefonso Tewa dough bowl dates to circa 1910 and is attributed to Ba Tse, also known as Tonita Peña, with painted decoration by Alfredo Montoya. The interior is painted with four elaborately rendered birds, each differently composed, set within geometric imagery across the broad, stone-polished surface. The 16 1/2" diameter places this among the larger examples of the form from this period.
In a 1991 letter included with the piece, Jonathan Batkin, then Director of the Wheelwright Museum, identified the painted decoration as the work of Alfredo Montoya and suggested Ba Tse as the likely maker of the vessel itself. The bowl remains in unrestored condition, with original surface and patina intact throughout. The accompanying museum correspondence constitutes primary documentation and should be preserved with the object.
Ba Tse and Alfredo Montoya were among the most accomplished potters and painters working at San Ildefonso in the years before the Black-on-black revival associated with Maria Martinez transformed the pueblo's ceramic tradition. Dough bowls of this scale and painted complexity from the pre-revival period are encountered with decreasing frequency in the market, as examples from this era have moved steadily into institutional collections. The long Indianapolis provenance and the Batkin letter together provide an unusually complete record of ownership and attribution for a work of this age.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
INQUIRE HERE
San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, Southwest Native American
Ba Tse & Alfredo Montoya
circa 1910
Stone-polished pottery
Height 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm); Diameter 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Indianapolis, for over 30 years; original 1991 letter from Jonathan Batkin, then Director of the Wheelwright Museum, included.
This San Ildefonso Tewa dough bowl dates to circa 1910 and is attributed to Ba Tse, also known as Tonita Peña, with painted decoration by Alfredo Montoya. The interior is painted with four elaborately rendered birds, each differently composed, set within geometric imagery across the broad, stone-polished surface. The 16 1/2" diameter places this among the larger examples of the form from this period.
In a 1991 letter included with the piece, Jonathan Batkin, then Director of the Wheelwright Museum, identified the painted decoration as the work of Alfredo Montoya and suggested Ba Tse as the likely maker of the vessel itself. The bowl remains in unrestored condition, with original surface and patina intact throughout. The accompanying museum correspondence constitutes primary documentation and should be preserved with the object.
Ba Tse and Alfredo Montoya were among the most accomplished potters and painters working at San Ildefonso in the years before the Black-on-black revival associated with Maria Martinez transformed the pueblo's ceramic tradition. Dough bowls of this scale and painted complexity from the pre-revival period are encountered with decreasing frequency in the market, as examples from this era have moved steadily into institutional collections. The long Indianapolis provenance and the Batkin letter together provide an unusually complete record of ownership and attribution for a work of this age.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
INQUIRE HERE
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