Curran, Dolores – 9.5″ Tall Polychrome Water Jar with Avanyu, Birds, and Bear Lid
$ 8,000.00
WOW! Dolores Curran said this is one of the largest pieces she has ever made. The jar is coil-built and fully incised with designs. Around the neck are feather and sun designs. Below them are rainbows and birds. Around the shoulder of the jar is an avanyu. Near the base are stylized birds along with “tablita” figures. All the designs are incised (carved) into the clay and in the carved recessed areas she applied red clay to accentuate the designs. Then they are painted with various clay slips or micaceous clay for the color. The background is smoothed using a silk stocking to get such an even texture! The lid has a heartline bear with cloud and the back is polished red with a terraced bowl. The amount of work and complexity of the piece is amazing! While her smaller pieces are time-consuming, her new, larger work captures that detail and precision that she can create in the clay . Simply spectacular! The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.
In stock
This is a very detailed lidded polychrome jar by Dolores Curran. She continues to create intricately incised and painted pottery. She was inspired to create these red polychrome incised and painted by her husband, Alvin Curran. He was known for his incised San Juan-style pottery in the late 1990s. This jar is a water jar shape with a wide shoulder and elongated neck. The neck of the jar is incised with feathers and clouds. On the top of the shoulder is an avanyu that is slipped red and has a tan-colored tongue. Around the sides are four panels, each with a different style of prayer feather. The base and rim are both polished red and painted with prayer feather and cloud designs. This jar is delicately etched and amazing that she is able to create so many colors. The designs are incised into the clay and then highlighted with clay slips and note how even in the incised areas she has added red clay! The lid is polished red and carved into the clay. There is a micaceous clay heartline bear on the top of the lid. All the colorations are from natural clay slips. It is an extraordinary amount of time to create pieces intricate both in design and to use the various clay additions. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.
Brand
Curran, Dolores (b. 1954)
