Stunning!  This large water jar by Russell Sanchez is fired a gunmetal black.  Russell’s recent work is a modern take on historic San Ildefonso pottery.  This jar has a wide shoulder, an elongated neck, and a fluted rim.  The rim and the neck of the jar are fully polished.  There are ten horizontal rows with a checkerboard design.  Russell said that there are 320 squares on the jar, not counting the lid.  They alternate between matte and micaceous areas.  The dot in the center makes this a classic corn design.  Believe it or not, this is very difficult to carve the horizontal lines into the clay and have them all turn out even! As well on this piece, note how the size of the square is smaller at the neck and then larger at the shoulder, matching the shape of the jar.  Separating each of the 10 bands of the checkerboard are 11 strands of hematite hei-shi beads!  Why does Russell use hematite hei-shi beads? Russell has been using it on recent pieces for several reasons. There is a traditional aspect in that women wear hematite bracelets when they do certain traditional dances at the Pueblo.  There is also hematite content in the clay slips use on the pottery.  The lid of the jar is also fully polished and the bear is micaceous.  There is a single row of squares surrounded on each side by hematite hei-shi beads.  The top of the bear has a single inset piece of high-grade Kingman turquoise.  The jar was traditionally fired and has a near gunmetal appearance that is the result of it being fired longer and hotter than just a black piece so that the surface has a more silvery 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 has said:

“I’m a traditionalist all the way through.  Innovation is part of our tradition. You use the same materials and tools that you have, and the same design elements, and the Clay Mother will come through you for what she wants you to do,” he explains. “Instead of doing the same cloud pattern or serpent pattern, you take that and make it your own. So, in fact, everything I’m doing is old, but new.”  Russell Sanchez, Southwest Art Magazine