Sanchez, Russell – Gunmetal Bowl with Checkerboard Design & Bear Lid

6"w x 7"h (w/ lid)

$ 7,500.00

This is a very creative gunmetal fired bowl by Russell Sanchez.  His recent work is a modern take on historic San Ildefonso pottery.  This bowl is incised in 11 horizontal bands with a corn design. The designs alternate between matte and polished areas.  Believe it or not this is very difficult to carve the horizontal lines into the clay and have them all turn out even!  Then there are is the checkerboard pattern.  If you take a closer look you will see in the center of each of the matte squares is a circle, which represents the corn.  The squares alternate between matte and polished, both vertically and horizontally!  Again, scan in on the photos and check out the precision of the etching on this piece.  It is amazing!  Separating each of the 11 bands of checkerboard are 12 strands of jet hei-shi beads!  As for the lid, the bear is very sculptural and it is fully polished while the remainder of the lid is carved and rounded out and then slipped with mica.  The gunmetal coloration from the firing is striking and it is the result of it being fired longer and hotter than just a black piece, so that the surface has a very metallic appearance.  Russell is one of the only Pueblo potters working today who is able to achieve this with consistency!  This may seem to be a simple design at first glance and yet it is probably one of the more precision challenging pieces Russell has made in a while, as if any line was not perfectly even, it would throw off the design.  The jar and the lid are both signed on the bottom in the clay.  A wonderful traditional and yet very modern piece!

Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past