Reportedly Barbara Johnson did not begin making pottery until the 1970's. Her mother, Mabel Sunn, a noted Maricopa potter instructed her daughter in the technique.
Barbara fashioned not only the black on redware, so often associated with Maricopa pottery but she also created the Mohave-inspired figurative pottery complete with beaded decoration. Barbara's process for firing her pottery is chronicled in Mary Fernald's book Dirt for Making Things: An Apprenticeship in Maricopa Pottery.
| About the Artist | Reportedly Barbara Johnson did not begin making pottery until the 1970's. Her mother, Mabel Sunn, a noted Maricopa potter instructed her daughter in the technique. Barbara fashioned not only the black on redware, so often associated with Maricopa pottery but she also created the Mohave-inspired figurative pottery complete with beaded decoration. Barbara's process for firing her pottery is chronicled in Mary Fernald's book Dirt for Making Things: An Apprenticeship in Maricopa Pottery. |
|---|---|
| Culture | American Indian |
| Medium | Polished and painted pottery, paddle and anvil formed (iron oxide red slip with black mesquite sap paint) |
| Size | 6 1/4" height X 3" maximum diameter |
| Signed | "B. Johnson" in black underneath |
| Condition | Excellent to very good. Extremely tiny surface irregularities. |
| Provenance | Ka Sw |