San Ildefonso Pottery | Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery

Tonita Roybal

San Ildefonso

Interlocking scroll design on a gunmetal black on black jar

Tonita Martinez Roybal (1892-1945) learned how to make pottery the traditional way from her mother, Dominguita Pino, and she passed that learning on to her daughters. Tonita was producing pots for the marketplace from 1909 until she passed on in 1945.

Tonita worked mostly with redware and blackware jars and bowls. During her life she developed methods of using matte white and matte red paints on redware pots. She is probably most famous for her black-on-red and black-on-black jars and her polychrome redware. She also attained a measure of fame for her participation in pottery making demonstrations with Maria Martinez, Maximiliana Montoya, Ramona Gonzales and Desideria Montoya at the Museum of New Mexico in 1909. Tonita was one of the finest potters of the twentieth century. Her pottery rivaled Maria's. However, Maria did not paint her pieces while Tonita did. Tonita may even have painted some pieces for Maria. Maria and Tonita were also able to achieve the finest "deep luster" polish on their blackware.

Tonita's first husband was Alfredo Montoya, a painter whose mother, Nicolasa Peña Montoya, first encouraged Maria Martinez to make pots. Painting pots for several women potters, Alfredo was especially known for his birds, animals and flowers. After his passing, Tonita is known to have spent time studying the work of Hopi-Tewa potter Nampeyo of Hano. Perhaps in her process of creating at least one Sikyátki-style Hopi pot (now in the collection of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe) she cross-pollinated ideas with some Hopi potters. It is felt that she may have had some influence in the development of black-on-red pottery at Hopi which became more popular during the 1920s.

In 1920 she married Juan Cruz Roybal and the year after, he began painting some of Tonita's pots. After 1930 he was painting most of her pots. It was in 1935 that he began painting some Mimbres-inspired designs on her pots.

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San Ildefonso Pueblo

Black Mesa at San Ildefonso Pueblo

San Ildefonso Pueblo is located about twenty miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, mostly on the eastern bank of the Rio Grande. Although their ancestry has been traced to prehistoric pueblos in the Mesa Verde area, their most recent ancestral home is in the area of Bandelier National Monument, the prehistoric village of Tsankawi in particular. Tsankawi abuts the reservation on its northwest side.

A mission church was built in 1617 and named for San Ildefonso. Hence the name. Before that the village was called Powhoge, "where the water cuts through" (in Tewa). Today's pueblo was established as long ago as the 1300s. When the Spanish arrived in 1540, they estimated the village population at about 2,000.

That mission was destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and when Don Diego de Vargas returned to reclaim the San Ildefonso area in 1694, he found virtually all the Tewa people on top of nearby Black Mesa. After an extended siege the two sides negotiated a treaty and the people returned to their villages. However, the next 250 years were not good for them. The Spanish swine flu pandemic of 1918 reduced the pueblo's population to about 90. Their population has grown to more than 600 now but the only economic activity available on the pueblo involves creating art in one form or another. The only other work is off-pueblo. San Ildefonso's population is small compared to neighboring Santa Clara Pueblo, but the pueblo maintains its own religious traditions and ceremonial feast days.

San Ildefonso is most known for being the home of the most famous Pueblo Indian potter, Maria Martinez. Many other excellent potters from this pueblo have produced quality pottery, too, among them: Blue Corn, Tonita and Juan Roybal, Dora Tse Pe and Rose Gonzales. Of course the descendants of Maria Martinez are still important pillars of San Ildefonso's pottery tradition. Maria's influence reached far and wide, so far and wide that even Juan Quezada of the Mata Ortiz pottery renaissance in Chihuahua, Mexico, came to San Ildefonso to learn from her.

Map showing the location of San Ildefonso Pueblo

For more info:
San Ildefonso Pueblo at Wikipedia
Pueblo of San Ildefonso official website
Pueblos of the Rio Grande, by Daniel Gibson
Photo is in the public domain

Maria Martinez Family Tree

Disclaimer: This "family tree" is a best effort on our part to determine who the potters are in this family and arrange them in a generational order. The general information available is questionable so we have tried to show each of these diagrams to living members of each family to get their input and approval, too. This diagram is subject to change should we get better info.

Cipriana Peña (c. 1810-)
- Santana Peña (1846-) & Antonio Domingo Peña (1841-)
  - Nicolasa Peña Montoya (1863-1904) & Juan Cruz Montoya
    - Tonita Martinez Roybal (1892-1945) & Alfredo Montoya
    - Isabel Montoya (1898-1996) & Benjamin Atencio
      - Angelita Atencio Sanchez (1927-1993) & Santiago Sanchez
        
        Sandra Sanchez Chaparro
      - Gilbert Atencio (1930-1995)
      - Tony Atencio (1928-)
      - Helen Gutierrez (1935-1993) & Frank Gutierrez (Santa Clara)
        
        Carol & James Gutierrez
        
        Kathy Gutierrez Naranjo & Ernest J. Naranjo
        
        Rose Gutierrez
        
        Geraldine Gutierrez Shije (1959-)
    - Rayita Montoya
    - Santana Montoya & Antonio Vigil
      - Lupita Vigil Martinez (1918-2006) & Anselmo Martinez (1909-1965)
  - Reyes Peña (d. 1909) & Tomas Montoya (d. 1914)
    - Desideria Montoya (1889-1982)
    - Maria Montoya Martinez (1887-1980) & Julian Martinez (1884-1943)
      - Adam Martinez (1903-2000) and Santana Roybal Martinez (1909-2002)
        
        George Martinez (1943-) & Pauline Martinez (Santa Clara)(1950-)
        
        Adam Martinez
        
        Jesse Martinez
        
        Jolene Martinez
        
        Anita Martinez (d. 1992) & Pino Martinez
        
        Barbara Tahn-Moo-Whe Gonzales (1947-) & Robert Gonzales
        
        Aaron Gonzales (1971-)
        
        Brandon Gonzales (1983-)
        
        Cavan Gonzales (1970-)
        
        Derek Gonzales (1986-)
        
        Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez (1950-) & Gilbert Sanchez
        
        Corrine Sanchez
        
        Gilbert Abel Sanchez
        
        Liana Sanchez
        
        Wayland Sanchez
        
        Evelyn Than-Povi Garcia
        
        Myra Garcia
        
        Berlinda Garcia
        
        Peter Pino
        
        Viola Martinez/Sunset Cruz & Johnnie Cruz Sr.
        
        Beverly Martinez (1960-1987)
        
        Marvin Martinez (1964-) and Frances Martinez
        
        Marvin Lee Martinez
        
        Johnnie Cruz Jr. (1975-)
      - Popovi Da (1921-1971) & Anita Da
        
        Tony Da (1940-2008)
    - Maximiliana Montoya (1885-1955) & Cresencio Martinez (1879-1918)
    - Juanita Vigil (1898-1933) & Romando Vigil (1902-1978)
      - Carmelita Vigil (1925-1999) & Nicholas Cata
        
        Martha Appleleaf (1950-)
        
        Erik Fender (1970-)
        
        Gloria Maxey (d. 1999)
        
        Angelina Maxey (1970-)
        
        Jessie Maxey (1972-)
      - Carmelita Vigil (Dunlap) (1925-1999) & Carlos Dunlap (d. 1971)
        
        Carlos Sunrise Dunlap (1958-1981)
        
        Cynthia Star Flower Dunlap (1959-)
        
        Jeannie Mountain Flower Dunlap (1953-)
        
        Linda Dunlap (1955-)
  - Philomena Peña & Juan Gonzales & Ramona Sanchez (Robert's mother)
    - Robert Gonzales & Rose (Cata) Gonzales (San Juan)
      - Tse-Pe & Dora Tse-Pe (Zia)
        
        Candace Tse-Pe
        
        Gerri Tse-Pe
        
        Irene Tse-Pe
      - Tse-Pe (1940-2000) & Jennifer Tse-Pe (Sisneros) (second wife, San Juan/Santa Clara)
    - Oqwa Pi (Abel Sanchez)(1899-1971) & Tomasena (Cata) Sanchez (1903-1985, Rose Gonzales' sister)
      - Skipped generation
        
        Russell Sanchez (1966-)
    - Louis Wo-Peen Gonzales & Juanita Wo-Peen Gonzales (1909-1988)
      - Adelphia Martinez
      - Lorenzo Gonzales (adopted) (1922-1995)
      - Blue Corn (Crucita Calabaza - Lorenzo's sister) (1921-1999)
- Tonita Peña (1847-c. 1910)
  - Anastacia Peña (c. 1876-)
    - Luisa Peña
  - Isabel Peña (c. 1881-) & Pasqual Martinez
    - Teracita Martinez
    - Petronella Martinez & Emiliano Abeyta (San Juan/Ohkay Owingeh)
      - Philopeta Martinez (1925-) & Patrick Torres
        
        Elvis Torres (1960-)
      - Torivia Martinez

Other info is derived from personal contacts with family members and through interminable searches of the Internet.