Marvin Blackmore Navajo Black-on-Black Wedding Vase & Attributed Olla — Signed

Marvin Blackmore is a Navajo-Diné potter born in Farmington, New Mexico, who came up in Cortez, Colorado surrounded by pottery traditions from multiple tribes. He began selling work professionally in 1990, winning Best in Category at his first show, and has since built a national collector following. These two pieces represent his foundational black-on-black period — the matte-on-polish carved style he mastered before evolving into the complex multi-layer sgraffito technique that defines his mature work. The wedding vase carries the classic twin-spout form joined by an arched handle, with a lower body band of carved geometric decoration: a scallop cloud register above a row of vertical rectangular cutwork elements, the matte carving playing against the mirror-polished body above. The olla is a full-shouldered globular jar with a constricted neck — fully polished, undecorated — presenting the clean, elemental form that anchors his early output. Both are fired to a deep, even black. The wedding vase is signed "Blackmore" in incised script on the base. The olla is unsigned and attributed to the same hand on the basis of stylistic consistency and shared provenance.

CONDITION

Good. Both pieces display strong, even polish with no chips, cracks, or repairs. Scuffing is present on both vessels, most visible on the lower body and base areas, consistent with handled display use.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

Wedding Vase

• Height: 8"
• Width: 7"
• Depth: 5"
• Signature: Blackmore (incised)
• Decoration: Carved matte-on-polish geometric banding

Olla

• Diameter: 9"
• Height: 9"
• Signature: Unsigned — attributed to Marvin Blackmore
• Decoration: Plain polished, undecorated
• Artist: Marvin Blackmore (Navajo-Diné, b. Farmington, NM)
• Technique: Black-on-black, reduction-fired
• Period: Early career, c. 1990s

Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale