This is a complex black seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf.  He began making pottery in 1970-1 and this piece is from 1993.  The seedpot is fully polished and fired a deep black. There are two overlapping Mimbres lizards as the design.  Each has different colors on their backs.  Note how he etched them so the tails are entwined!  There is also an additional realistic butterfly near the base of the seedpot and Joseph always said this butterfly represented beauty.  There is also the 1993 yearly symbol of a wolf track. The piece is signed on the bottom, “Joseph Lonewolf”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.

It gives me a funny feeling when people tell me I’ve done something brand new and different. I’ve just figured out all over again what potters did centuries ago. But it is NOT new as people like to say it is. Such colors were achieved in pre-history times by my ancestors.  I regard the Mimbres as my ancestors. Though I refine their designs, each design must have meaning for me. In my dreams I see how to use the design, how to make the pot happen. Then when I work the clay, everything flows. Some people wonder why I keep changing styles, colors, forms. But I can’t just sit there and make pots. Like any artist I must try different things, different techniques. I must meet the challenge with my hands. The patterns and the methods I see in my mind during my dreams.” —JOSEPH LONEWOLF, Spoken Through Clay

Deciphered: The Yearly Symbols of Joseph Lonewolf