This is a classic painted miniature jar by Dolores Curran.  Before she began making her carved pieces, she was well known for her delicately painted buff-on-red pottery.  The jar is highly polished red and painted with buff clay for the design.  Amazingly, she would paint each piece up to five times to get the color of the matte-painted areas deep and consistent enough!  This har has mountains around the neck of the piece.  Below is an avanyu.  Around the body of the piece are tiny rain clouds and rain.  For the size of the piece, it is fully designed and amazingly intricate!  Dolores mostly made painted miniatures due to the time-consuming nature of the painting. The jar is signed, “Dolores Curran”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.