Marilyn Ray Acoma Native Friendship Polychrome Ceramic Sculpture, Signed (2008)

Details

Description

Artist: Marilyn Ray (Marilyn Henderson Ray) (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)
Title: [Untitled Friendship Sculpture]
Date: 2008
Medium: Hand-coiled clay with … Read more Artist: Marilyn Ray (Marilyn Henderson Ray) (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)
Title: [Untitled Friendship Sculpture]
Date: 2008
Medium: Hand-coiled clay with natural pigments
Dimensions: Height 4.25 in. (10.8 cm); Depth 6 in. (15.2 cm); Width 5.5 in. (14 cm)
Signature: Signed and dated on the bottom; original price in pencil
Condition: Very good. Wear consistent with age.

Description:

A polychrome friendship sculpture by Acoma Pueblo artist Marilyn Ray. The work depicts four figures in a narrative composition. One figure is accompanied by a dog. A butterfly is rests on the shoulder of another figure. A turtle and a ladybug (sitting on the shoulder of a girl) are present. A boy in front of a drum holds a bird in his hand, while a lizard climbs up the side of the drum. The sculpture is hand-coiled from natural clay and painted with traditional mineral and plant-derived pigments. It is signed and dated on the bottom and retains the original price in pencil.

Artist Biography: Marilyn Ray (Acoma Pueblo, b. 1954)


Marilyn Ray was born in 1954 into the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. She is a member of the Yellow Corn Clan. Ray began learning pottery at age twelve from her grandmother, renowned Acoma potter Dolores S. Sanchez, who taught her to gather and process natural clay and pigments from within the pueblo.


By age eighteen, Ray had mastered traditional pottery techniques. She is recognized for her innovative storyteller figures and Friendship Bowls, which depict children, animals, and narrative scenes inspired by her childhood memories. Her work includes storytellers, Nativities, Singing Maidens, Corn Maidens, and animal figures. She continues to use traditional methods, gathering her own clay and natural pigments, hand-coiling her vessels, and firing outdoors.


Ray's work has earned over 300 prize ribbons from major exhibitions including the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Museum Show, and the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonials. She signs her work with a hand-drawn lizard hallmark.


Museum Holdings:


National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution See less