Curran, Dolores – Polychrome Jar with Feathers, Flowers, Dragonflies, and Lid

4.5"w x 5.5"h (w/ lid)

$ 2,800.00

This is a creative jar by Dolores Curran.  She continues to create intricately incised and painted pottery.  Her husband, Alvin Curran, inspired her to create these red polychrome incised and painted.  He was known for his incised San Juan-style pottery in the late 1990s.  This jar is unusual as it combines a variety of incised designs.  Around the shoulder there are parrot and bird designs etched into the clay.  there are small flower, plant, and cloud designs below the birds.  Below the shoulder are two sections with incised feathers.  There are smaller clouds and leaf designs with flowers and clouds. The designs are all incised (lightly cut) into the clay the slipped with additional colors to create the red and buff (white) area.  The larger sections with the feathers are slipped with mica.  The rim and base of the bowl are polished red and painted red-on-red with additional designs. The lid of the jar is incised into the top and there is a micaceous cloud form for the finial.  The lid fits perfectly into the jar.  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 in the colors.  All the colorations are from natural clay slips.  It is an extraordinary amount of time to create intricate pieces in design and use the various clay additions.   The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Dolores Curran”.