Madelena, Josephita

Josephita Madelena was a potter from Jemez Pueblo. Her mother was Benigna Medina Madelena, a Zia Pueblo woman who had married into Jemez Pueblo and moved to her husband’s home there. Elcira Madelena and Persingula Gachupin were her sisters.

Benigna’s three daughters all learned how to make pottery the ages-old way: by watching and working with their mother as she made pottery. Benigna made a mix of traditional Zia and Jemez pottery: matte polychrome jars, bowls and pitchers. The girls all learned the same but each differentiated their pottery from the others as they left home.

Josephita specialized in small seed pots with appliqués of flowers and birds attached. She taught her daughter, Marie Reyes Madelena, how to make pottery and she’s had a good career from it.