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Artist/Maker
Peter B. Jones
(Onondaga, Beaver Clan, born 1947)
Date2025
MediumThrown and modeled clay
DimensionsOverall: 18 × 4 1/2 × 4 1/2 in. (45.7 × 11.4 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, The Edward W. Root Class of 1905 Memorial Art Purchase Fund
Object number2025.12.1
Not on view
DescriptionArtist Peter B. Jones has been making Matriarch figures since the beginning of his career in the 1960s. As a child on the Cattaraugus Reservation in the southern tier of New York State, he frequently encountered an elderly woman trudging along the road to make her daily errands. The memory of this woman's struggle and determination inspired Jones to create his first Matriarch.
The Matriarch in the Wellin collection consists of a thrown base with modeled upper body. She looks reverently upward to the sky. Her white hair exudes wisdom, consisting of clay that was braided separately and applied to the figure prior to firing. Her arms are hidden seamlessly beneath a shawl, with one exposed hand exhibiting signs of age and heavy labor. Her elongated, pillar-like stance is reminiscent of not only the matrilineal society of the Haudenosaunee, but of vintage Lladro figurines that Peter B. Jones saw while studying commercial pottery early in his career.
Collections
Additional Details
Signature
Base, proper right (incised): "P B Jones '25"
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