This is a visually striking highly polished jar by Russell Sanchez.  The jar has a round shoulder and a short neck. There is a deeply carved medallion with a bear carved in relief.  The bear is highly polished, as is the remainder of the jar.  The center of the bear has a single inset piece of turquoise.  It is surrounded by tiny coral insets.  Around the medallion is another row of coral insets, then two bands of hematite hei-shi beads, and then another band of coral inset. There are a total of 120 stones inset throughout the entire piece.  The lid has inset coral and turquoise on the top of the lid.  The jar was fired to a glassy, deep black, which creates a striking coloration with the deep red coral.  Why coral? Russell says the red represents the Winter Clan at San Ildefonso, and the turquoise the summer clan.  The jar has a striking balance of design, form, and color.  The jar and the lid are both signed on the bottom in the clay, “Russell”.  A wonderful traditional and yet very modern piece!