This is a creative and complex polychrome jar from 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 has a tall shape with a flat shoulder that extends up to the neck.  Around the shoulder, there is a water serpent (avanyu).  Below is a band of incised feathers in red.  The next level down are dragonflies, flowers and very intricate cloud scenes.  Near the base are incised rain designs and on the polished red area are painted (red-on-red) dragonflies.  The lid is in the shape of a bird or parrot head.  The base is polished but the bird head is matte and fully designed with incised designs!   The entire jar combines polished, matte and micaceous surfaces.  All the colorations are from natural clay slips.  It is an extraordinary amount of time to create pieces this intricate both in design and in the various clay additions.   The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.  Simply perfect!