Artist Media Series
Living Artists
Historic
$ 1,500.00
This is a traditionally inspired jar by Richard Zane Smith. The jar is coil-built with the coils smoothed out. This piece is inspired by classic Iroquois and Wyandot forms. The top of the piece has a raised neck that is polished to look like leather. The rim is also incised with designs. The jar was pit fired to create the colorations on the surface. The jar has the style of a classic cooking vessel. It is signed, “Richard Zane Smith,” and dated 1997. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.
“This style is a transitional piece from op art to Wyandot/Iroquois style. So many of the Wyandot necks have four points (castellation). Then there are a lot that are five or six and then nine. I don’t know if there is a significance. People wonder why. Theories? I have my own theory. People lived in longhouses and they had lots of dogs and they would run in and out of the longhouse all the time. To keep a cooking pot turned upside down, you would keep a dog from licking it. You could also get the pot to air out and dry, and you wouldn’t have to worry about mold.” Richard Zane Smith, Spoken Through Clay
In stock