Curran, Dolores – Large Polychrome with Butterflies, Carved Feathers and Bear Lid

4.75"w x 6.25"h (w/ lid)

$ 3,600.00

WOW!  This is a spectacular 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 water jar has a high shoulder and straight neck.  Around the neck are incised flowers, rainclouds, rainbows.  Around the shoulder are more deeply incised feathers.  They are precision perfect!  Separating the feathers are butterfly designs.  Each butterfly is different and the piece is elegant in design. The jar has a flat lid with a bear on top.  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!  To create a piece with so much design and so much coloration and yet have them draw the eye from one “scene” to the next, is remarkable.  To see it on a larger piece has given Dolores an additional “canvas” in terms of size to accentuate her imagery and various techniques.  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”.