Curran, Dolores – Large Polychrome Jar with Turtles, Flowers, and Rain Clouds

5.5"w x 4.75"h

$ 2,400.00

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 sharp shoulder and a sloping side.  The rim is fully polished red and painted with red-on-red cloud and rain designs.  Above the shoulder, the jar is incised with four turtles.  Each turtle has a different design with a flower on its back.  Separating them are larger flower designs. Above each flower is a raincloud.  Below the designs are a wave pattern.  The area below the shoulder is slipped 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”.