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Blue Corn
San Ildefonso Pueblo
Blue Corn (Crucita Gonzales Calabaza, 1921-1999) was introduced to pottery making by her grandmother at the age of three. About the same time, Maria Martinez sister gave her the name "Blue Corn" during the annual San Ildefonso Naming Ceremony.
Blue Corn attended pueblo schools for several years, then was transferred to the Santa Fe Indian School. While she was there, her parents died and she was sent to live with relatives in southern California. She returned to San Ildefonso a few years later and at the age of 20, she married Santiago Calabaza, a silversmith from Santo Domingo Pueblo. They settled at San Ildefonso and, over the years, they raised ten children.
In the early years Blue Corn worked at various jobs in the area. One of them was cleaning J. Robert Oppenheimer's home in Los Alamos during World War II. But after her first son, Joseph, was born, she returned to making pots so she had time to take care of him.
During her career she made black-on-black, redware and polychrome pots. In the late 1950s Santiago quit his day job and began working full time with her, carving, painting and designing. In 1972 Joseph began working with Blue Corn after Santiago passed away.
Blue Corn is especially noted for her finely polished slips and her experiments with clays and colors, producing different cream polychromes on plates and jars. She is also well known for her feather and cloud designs.
Black on black plate with geometric designs
0.5 in H by 4.75 in Dia
Black on black plate with geometric designs
0.75 in H by 6 in Dia
Black on black bowl with geometric designs
3 in H by 9.25 in Dia
Black jar carved with cloud design
2.75 in H by 5.5 in Dia
Black jar carved with rain design
3 in H by 4.75 in Dia
Black on black jar with a geometric design
2.25 in H by 3.25 in Dia
Black on black jar with feather design
2.25 in H by 3.75 in Dia
Black on black jar with feather design
4.75 in H by 3.75 in Dia
Black on black jar decorated with feather and geometric designs
4.5 in H by 10 in Dia
Polychrome jar with feather design
2.75 in H by 3 in Dia
Red jar with green slip feather design
5 in H by 7 in Dia
Polychrome jar with feather and geometric design
5 in H by 5.75 in Dia
Polychrome jar with avanyu, cloud and geometric design
3.5 in H by 5.25 in Dia
Polychrome jar decorated with a geometric design
1.5 in H by 2.5 in Dia
Black on black jar decorated with a feather design
3.5 in H by 5.5 in Dia
Polychrome plate with feather and geometric design
2 in H by 13.5 in Dia