Dimensions: 7 ¾” D x 3” H
Artist: Rose Gonzales (1900–1989)
Pueblo Affiliation: San Ildefonso Pueblo (born Ohkay Owingeh / San Juan)
Object Type: Bowl
Color / Finish: Matte Red-on-Red
Production Method: 100% Handmade
Construction Technique: Traditional Hand-Coiled, Hand-Painted
Firing Process: Traditional Native Pit-Fired
Approximate Date: c. 1920s / 1930s (Early Career)
Signature / Markings: Historic trading post label on base reading “San Ildefonso Pueblo” and “Rosa Gonzales”
Condition Report: Very good historic condition with honest, age-appropriate surface wear. No chips, cracks, or repairs. Features minor, gentle weathering to the lighter red painted matte finish and wear to the bottom.
This rare red-on-red pottery bowl displays an exceptionally elegant, rounded form anchored by a well-preserved matte painted design over its natural native clay body. The base features a highly unique, historic trading post label referencing her rare birth name variation, "Rosa Gonzales," indicating this vessel is a scarce artifact from her definitive early production period. Free of later carving innovations, the smooth red surface exhibits a soft, honest historic patina and gentle handling wear that perfectly reflects the authentic, decades-old heritage of her formative career.
Rose Gonzales (1900–1989), who frequently signed her work as Rose Gonzales but was born Rosa Cata, is celebrated as a definitive twentieth-century matriarch of San Ildefonso Pueblo pottery. Originally born at Ohkay Owingeh, she married into San Ildefonso in 1920 and learned traditional pottery-making from her mother-in-law, Ramona Sanchez Gonzales. She went on to radically alter the trajectory of Pueblo art history by pioneering the deeply carved "cameo" relief technique in the 1930s. Her immense artistic legacy was passed down directly to her award-winning descendants, including her son Tse-Pe, daughter-in-law Dora Tse-Pe, and great-nephew Russell Sanchez. Today, her masterworks are highly coveted by elite collectors and preserved in world-class institutions such as the Heard Museum, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Denver Art Museum.
Dimensions: 7 ¾” D x 3” H
Artist: Rose Gonzales (1900–1989)
Pueblo Affiliation: San Ildefonso Pueblo (born Ohkay Owingeh / San Juan)
Object Type: Bowl
Color / Finish: Matte Red-on-Red
Production Method: 100% Handmade
Construction Technique: Traditional Hand-Coiled, Hand-Painted
Firing Process: Traditional Native Pit-Fired
Approximate Date: c. 1920s / 1930s (Early Career)
Signature / Markings: Historic trading post label on base reading “San Ildefonso Pueblo” and “Rosa Gonzales”
Condition Report: Very good historic condition with honest, age-appropriate surface wear. No chips, cracks, or repairs. Features minor, gentle weathering to the lighter red painted matte finish and wear to the bottom.
This rare red-on-red pottery bowl displays an exceptionally elegant, rounded form anchored by a well-preserved matte painted design over its natural native clay body. The base features a highly unique, historic trading post label referencing her rare birth name variation, "Rosa Gonzales," indicating this vessel is a scarce artifact from her definitive early production period. Free of later carving innovations, the smooth red surface exhibits a soft, honest historic patina and gentle handling wear that perfectly reflects the authentic, decades-old heritage of her formative career.
Rose Gonzales (1900–1989), who frequently signed her work as Rose Gonzales but was born Rosa Cata, is celebrated as a definitive twentieth-century matriarch of San Ildefonso Pueblo pottery. Originally born at Ohkay Owingeh, she married into San Ildefonso in 1920 and learned traditional pottery-making from her mother-in-law, Ramona Sanchez Gonzales. She went on to radically alter the trajectory of Pueblo art history by pioneering the deeply carved "cameo" relief technique in the 1930s. Her immense artistic legacy was passed down directly to her award-winning descendants, including her son Tse-Pe, daughter-in-law Dora Tse-Pe, and great-nephew Russell Sanchez. Today, her masterworks are highly coveted by elite collectors and preserved in world-class institutions such as the Heard Museum, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Denver Art Museum.
