This is a beautifully incised and polished plate by Dolores Curran. It is exciting to see her work when she creates pieces on this scale! The front of the plate has a polished central medallion with a painted water serpent (avanyu).  Surrounding the medallion is an incised feather pattern.  Around the rim of the plate are incised sunburst designs.  The rim of the plate is polished and then painted with mountain and rain designs.  The back of the plate has an additional starburst pattern.  The subtle variations in color on this piece are perfect!

How does Dolores create her “poly-tonal” incised blackware?  This is a style that she originated by modifying the classic “black” pottery with polishing and rubbing techniques to create various shades of black and grey.  Technically, this is an amazing and time-involved process as the surface areas are either polished or slipped with mica or rubbed until they are almost a gunmetal coloration.  The designs are created by either incising or etching into the surface and this is combined with painted designs.