This is a spectacular large seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf. The piece was made in 1976 and it is fully polished to a high red shine.  The top has an eagle in flight with outstretched wings and talons.  Behind the eagle, carved more deeply into the clay, are four bands of “basket weave”, with rounded coils and vertical etched lines to represent the basket weave.  Extending outward are precisely etched eagle feathers that swirl around the entire piece.  The remainder is polished red.  The realism of the eagle, combined with the layers of the basket weave and the precision of the eagle feathers, is striking in person.  The seedpot is signed on the bottom in the clay, “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