Blue Corn – Large Polychrome Bowl with Plant Designs (1975)

10.5"w x 8.5"h

$ 3,000.00

This is a striking large polychrome bowl by Blue Corn from 1975.  She is certainly one of the most creative potters of her time with a varied used of clays and firing techniques to create her distinctive pottery.  This is one of her larger bowls and it is very round in shape creating a lot of surface area to polish and paint.  The bowl is rag polished with a cream-colored clay slip. The design around the neck is a star pattern. Around the center is a band of plant and leaf patterns. They are painted with black and ochre-colored clays.   It is a fluid design that accentuates the shape of the bowl.  It is an interesting design for her work, as it is inspired by traditional Kewa pottery.  The connection, of course, is that Sandy Calavasa (Blue Corn’s husband) was from Santo Domingo Pueblo (Kewa) and he painted much of her pottery in the 1950-70 period.  There is a photo at the end of a historic Kewa jar from which this bowl was obviously inspired.  It is not often that we see her work in such a large size.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Blue Corn, San Ildefonso 75”.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.

Blue Corn: All the Colors of the Clay