This is a complex large seedpot by Joseph Lonewolf. The piece is fully polished and fired red and it is from  1977.  1977 is one of the key years of Joseph’s pottery, as he created a majority of his relief carved pieces during the 1976-77 period.  The piece has several layers of design.  There is a Mimbres bird holding a Mimbres fish.  Behind the fish are carved cloud designs that are polished tan.  The next layer back is the rounded lines that are slipped with blue clay.  It is a creative but difficult use of layers of design and various colors.  There are blue, green, red, and white clay slips.  The remainder of the piece is fully polished red. There is a small, realistic butterfly as part of the design and it is slipped with light green clay.  The seedpot is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Joseph Lonewolf”.   It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  

I think what collectors saw and recognized was his special relationship with Clay Woman, the spirit who lives in the clay. His belief and respect for her allowed him to tap into his own creative energy, that inexplicable ‘groove’ that every artist seeks but only sometimes reaches. These two elements, Dad’s energy combined with Clay Woman to form these incredible pieces, so alive and realistic that you expected the images to walk right off the pots.”  Rosemary Lonewolf ,Spoken Through Clay