This is a very intricate polychrome carved and incised bowl by Russell Sanchez.   He continues to be one of the true innovators and revivalists in Pueblo pottery.  Each piece is perfectly coil built, stone polished, and etched.  This bowl has a round body and it is deeply carved with two oval medallions. The medallions are carved in three layers. The outer two layers are black while the central section is polished red.  Each side is incised with a grizzly bear and then inset with a piece of turquoise on the back and turquoise for the eye.  On the sides of the bowl, it is polished white and incised with bird and cloud patterns.  It is a striking use of traditional San Ildefonso designs.  Note how after the designs are etched into the clay, they are highlighted with additional clay slips for coloration before the piece is fired.  There is a lot of time and risk that goes into Russell’s polychrome pottery before they are even fired!  All the clays Russell is using are the same as those used in San Ildefonso pottery from the 1880s to about 1920.  His deep red slip is a more recent addition to his clay art starting around 2005.  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.”  The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Russell”.  It is exciting to see how this imagery is not new but Russell’s reinterpretation of it both modernizes and revives.