Alvin Curran was possibly the most refined and sophisticated San Juan style potter of his generation. He was married to Dolores Curran and his daughter is Ursula Curran, both of whom continue to make pottery.  Alvin took the traditional style of incised San Juan polychrome pottery and refined his carving and painted designs.  Each piece is fully carved and then red and white clay slips are added to create the color.  Amazingly, each year at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market, he would enter his pottery in the “carved” categories and win against much more deeply carved and fully polished traditional Santa Clara pottery.  It was a reflection of the precision of his work. This bowl is one of his smaller pieces.  It is stone polished on the rim and the base.  Around the body of the jar, it is incised and has a mountain pattern and the white slip above represents the snow.  The other designs are wind and clouds.  The designs are precision cut into the clay before firing.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Alvin Curran”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.