This is the largest polychrome bear we have had by Russell Sanchez.  He continues to be one of the true innovators in Pueblo pottery.  Each piece is perfectly coil-built, stone-polished, and etched.  The bear is fully polished with white clay.  The sides of the legs are polished red.  The back is etched with large diamond cloud shapes and highlighted with red and black clay slips.  Did you know that all the etching and all the clay colors have to be carefully applied BEFORE the piece is fired?  This adds time to the polychrome pieces but also adds to their distinctive appearance.  The sides of the legs each are polished red and etched with a bear paw and inset turquoise stones.  Above the legs are inset hematite stones.  There are tiny inset turquoise stones that create a heartline extending from the mouth to the back.  In the center of the larger designs on the back of the bear are four large inset pieces of turquoise.  The contrast of the large and small stones is striking in this piece!  There is a jewel-like quality to the way he inset the stones.  Across the back are bands of hematite and turquoise hei-shi beads.  The bear is signed on the foot, “Russell”.  As Russell continues to innovate from historic designs, he says, “Tradition means moving forward and adding to it. You keep moving forward.  If we stayed stagnant we would no longer exist.”  It is exciting to see how this imagery is not new but Russell’s reinterpretation of it both modernizes and revives the clay.