Maria Martinez was born Maria Antonia Montoya. There is no record of her birth, but there is a record of her baptism in 1887. Maria has said that she remembers the event meaning she was already a child at the time not an infant. She celebrates her birthday on April 5. She died in on July 20, 1980. In 1904 she marries Julian Martinez, even though her family was against the idea. Days after their marriage they went to St. Louis World's fair of 1904 to show their craftwork and perform their native dances.
Maria first attempted pottery making at age seven or eight. She watched potters then working in the classical San Ildefonso tradition. One was Martina Montoya, who is one of the best San Ildefonso potters of all time. The person that had the most influence on her was Nicolasa Peise Montoya, which is Maria's aunt. It was Nicolasa who encouraged and taught Maria against her mothers wishes.
Maria started out making polychrome ware, which was the style most commonly done at that time. She usually avoided the grey, grainy, and streaked surfaces that many potters of her time used as finish. Maria's doing of the black ware was an immediate success.
By 1908 Maria was a very well established artist. In 1908, Dr. Hewett was doing excavations north of the San Ildefonso Pueblo and discovered some prehistoric pottery which was different from the then current style of the San Ildefonso. Dr. Hewett asked Maria if she could re-create the style of pottery and she did.
In 1919, experiments done by Maria and Julian resulted in matte-black-on-polished-black ware. Which is commonly called black-on-black ware. This style of work gave them their greatest popularity.
By 1934, Maria had become so popular that she hired Spanish household help so that she could devote more time to pottery-making. Maria began to hold pottery classes both at San Ildefonso and at the Indain School in Santa Fe; and for this the government paid her one dollar per hour.
Maria and Julian refined their pottery techniques and then put their works in expositions; which include the 1904 St. Louis fair, the 1914 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, and the 1934 Chicago World's fair. In the 1934 World's fair in San Diego her work was showcased, and that same year she became the first woman and second person to recieve a bronze medal from the "Indian Fire Council."
To clarify Maria made the pots and did the firing, while Julian did the painting or decorative work, which was the norm for pottery that men did the decorative part and women made the pots.
After Julian's death in 1943, Maria began working with her daughter-in-law Santana. Santana provided the painted decoration. After 1956, Maria also worked with her son Popovi Da.
Since her death in 1980, the pottery of Maria has become increasingly more collectible and difficult to find.
