Maria Martinez Pottery - San Ildefonso Pueblo

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Latest Potters:

Santana and Adam Martinez both came from famous San Ild... Adam Martinez

Lupita Vigil Martinez married Anselmo Martinez. Anselm... Lupita Martinez

Kathy Gutierrez is one of the daughters of the late wel... Kathy Gutierrez-Naranjo

Rose Brown, the only San Ildefonso potter who makes sto... Rose Brown

Angela, who was born in 1927 and has been potting since... Angela Baca

Latest Stories:

Isabel Pena: Isabel was a part of the pottery boom in the early 1900s. Not a lot is known about her. Though Isabel’s grandmother was Cipriana Pena who is also the

Terasita Martinez: ...

Ignacio Aguilar: ...

Phelipita Torres: Phelipita helped her Grand Mother Isabel Pena with pottery making at a young age. Her primary function was pottery decoration.

Vitalia Maestas: ...

Tse Pe San Ildefonso Pueblo Artist

Life Span: (1940 to ?)

Wife: Dora Tse-Pe

Wife: Jennifer Sisneros

Father: Romando Vigil

Mother: Rose Gonzales

Daughter: Candace Martinez

Daughter: Jennifer Tse-pe

Sibling: Albert Vigil

Sibling: Tom Vigil

Sibling: Carmelita Dunlap

Johnny with Deann Martinez (by Louis Baca)

Johnny Tse-Pe Gonzales was born in 1940 to the well-known potter Rose Gonzales. His father Romando Vigil was an excellent painter and was formally married to Juanita Vigil who passed away in 1933. Romando and Rose wanted to get married, however, the Gonzales family wouldn’t let her. Allegedly this riff eventually led Johnny to start using Tse-Pe as his last name.

His teachers were his mother and both his grandmothers. Tse-Pe was already a known potter when he married Dora and they began collaborating on innovative pottery along with Popovi Da and Tony Da. He worked in traditional redware and blackware and used both carving techniques and sgraffito, but he is probably best known for his polished mica slips, green clay and inlayed turquoise with asymmetrical designs.