Susie Crank is a daughter of Rose Williams and a sister of Alice Cling.  Each piece is coil built, stone polished and amazingly, she says he may burnish a piece over and over as many as 15 times to get a high shine!  This is a wide jar with a short neck.  It is fully polished and around the top of the shoulder there is a raised band.  It is incised with a rain design.  The jar is traditionally fired to create the fire-clouds on the surface.  The colorations on this jar range from black to a deep red.  The jar was covered in pine-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof.  Today, the pine pitch seals the vessel and gives it the shine.  This jar has a stunning shine and a great feel to the surface!  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Susie Crank”.

Brand

Crank, Susie (b. 1966)

Suzie Crank

Susie Crank learned the art of pitch pine pottery making from her mother, Rose Williams. Her sisters Alice Cling and Sue Williams also make pitch pine Navajo-style pottery. Her pots are hand-coiled. She then takes a smooth stone and burnishes the entire pot 10-15 times to smooth it out and give it a beautiful finish. The pottery is then open-fired and covered with pine sap, sealing and shining the pot. .