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 piece is lightly etched with a large Mimbres deer offset-from the top.  Surrounding the der are feather and sun designs.  Note all the tiny round dots that are also etched into the clay.  They accentuate the design of the deer. There are also matte red areas where just the polished surface was etched away leaving the matte surface.  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