Featured Acoma pot signature help

I got this pot at a very productive estate sale a couple years ago, and posted it here in the 'Finds' thread, but never followed up beyond that.

At the time, I was enthused to think it could have been made by Marie Z. Chino (1907-1982), one of the master Acoma potters.

But after that, when I could find no signatures of hers that looked like mine, I assumed mine was by someone else, perhaps a younger relative.

Recently, I found this listing, which is a nearly identical pot to mine, and almost without a doubt made by the same person, and attributed to Marie Z. Chino.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/marie-zieu-chino-1907-1982-acoma-pueblo-154-c-22f4405928

Could it be that mine is by her? Is the auction listing in error? Is there something else going on?

smaller olla is 6.75" (17cm) wide and 4.75" (12cm) tall

Thank you all so much!

 

@Taupou

 

Here's another attributed to her with a similar sig to yours (lowercase "h" though).

 

@Potteryplease, the pot in your link looks to be pretty exact to yours, and appears have the same 'slanted CAP 'N' in the signature........but I'm no expert in pottery.....

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Thank you for that @Aquitaine! You're so good at that! They are remarkably similar.

There's no doubt that mine is Acoma-- it has the texture, the thinness, the light weight and the 'ringing' when you (gently!) tap on the rim. I just hope to know the maker.

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for that link @sabre123. That's the same auction house as the one I linked in my original post, but from a different auction a year earlier. Kinda hard to believe the price that one went for!

 

price is consistent. John Moran has a good reputation. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/sea...=1&pageSize=24&sort=-relevance&status=archive

 

Here is a gallery site with several Marie Z. Chino signatures shown. It also indicates that there are many of her descendants who are potters, though none are listed with a first name beginning with M on this site. I find on a different site a listing for Monica Chino. You might try contacting these galleries.

Marie Z. Chino - King Galleries - Scottsdale & Santa Fe

Here is the site that lists Monica Chino.

Acoma Pottery | Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery (andreafisherpottery.com)

 

Thanks for those leads @verybrad.

The paint and style for the couple Monica Chino pots I can find online do look like mine, though two different sites both noted that she signs her pots 'M.C.'.

I'll keep looking!

 

Neither artist typically signs M. Chino so who knows?

 

I have this E. Chino wedding vase. This item came from mother-in-law's hoard. Just under 6"
The bird motif is similar, although not as well done. So by a family member? The bird's heads look warped because of the curvature of the vase. They are actually neater than they appear.

It's interesting how similar the signings/marks are.
Polly and Owen were my husband's aunt and uncle.

 

Well, while we're at it, I'll share one more that I have. This one is older and has no signature. My understanding is that Acoma potters thought it bad taste to sign their names until the 1950's or so.

 

That's very interesting. I was wondering when signatures started being used.
I also have a pot that says "Acoma Sky City"
My husband thinks the term Sky City wasn't used until the 1980s. What do you think?

 

From Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni by Hayes and Blom (2nd Ed):

"Most... [tourist] pieces are unsigned or signed "Acoma N.M." on the bottom... [and] were made between 1920 and 1965, a time when Acoma potters felt it was an inappropriate display of ego to put one's name on a pot. Potters' signatures first appeared on Acoma pottery in the 1950's and weren't universal at the Pueblo until the 1970's." (page 54).

As for "Sky City," I do not know. Sky City is just one location, so that's even more specific than "Acoma N.M."

 

Thanks for this info. I'm not finding much about Pueblo pottery, other than selling sites that just have a few brief paragraphs.
I have a bunch of smaller pots that I have collected over the years locally from yard and estate sales. However, deceased mother-in-law's pots have thrown me into more serious territory, and I need to get deeper into the research.

 

That book, which I quoted above and which you may already have, and which some of our most esteemed colleagues on this site have repeated recommended, is a "must-have"

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look for this book.

 

A follow up:

The kind folks at Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery gallery in Santa Fe responded to me that my pot is not by Marie Z. Chino, as she did not sign pots "M Chino."

By extension, I guess that means the one sold at auction was incorrectly attributed.

 

I’d personally go 100% by Andrea Fisher and yes, auction attributions are frequently (sadly) incorrectly attributed.