Ortiz, Virgil – Large Jar with Dragonflies and Hummignbirds

8.5"w x 14.5"h

$ 8,800.00

This is tall and elegant jar by Virgil Ortiz.  The piece is coil built and painted with native clay slips and wild spinach (a plant) for the black.  The jar has a combination of dragonflies and hummingbirds as the design which encircles the entire piece.  They flow and spiral around the surface of the jar and are connected by the wildflower designs (the spirals with the triangular spikes). The dragonflies are a new addition to Virgil’s iconography and the hummingbird he has used as a reference to his mother, Seferina Ortiz, who taught him to make pottery.  Note as well the “spirit line” which is a space in the painting on the rim.  Virgil has also incorporated his signature “x”, which is the turkey track, onto the back of the canteen. The jar is signed on the back.  The use of traditional and contemporary imagery has become a standard for Virgil’s pottery as he pushes the boundaries of contemporary Native clay.