This is a striking large 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.  Dolores said this was the first time she had made this shape.  She said she was inspired by a photo of pieces her mother, Ursulita Naranjo, had made.  The jar has a high, sharp shoulder.  There is a deeply carved flower on one side, which Dolores said was a new addition to her work.  There is another flower on the opposite side that is deeply incised, not carved.  Surround the flower is a large avanyu.  Above the shoulder is a mountain design.  Below the avanyu is a dragonfly and cloud design.  The bottom of the bowl is polished red.  It has incised birds and cloud designs.  The rim of the bowl is also polished red and has painted red-on-red rain and cloud designs.  The area around the designs are slipped with mica. Did you know that Dolores uses a slik cloth to “rag polish” the micaceous area and keep it smooth.  The lid is fully polished on top and paitned around the edge with a mountain design. The top of the lid is lipped with mica. 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!  Using a larger vessel allows Dolores to create more subtlety to the colors.  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”.