This is an exceptional jar by Russell Sanchez.  The piece is a classic water jar shape but with the traditional “gourd” indentions on all the areas of the piece.  The “Gourd Jar” takes its inspiration from the gourd shards used when smoothing out a piece of pottery.  That same piece then can create an indention on the surface of the vessel.  This jar has eight horizontal indentions on the shoulder.  These are the classic “gourd” indentions.  The neck has 12 and the base has 12 vertical gourd indentions. There is a band of checkerboard designs just below the neck and two more rows below the shoulder.  They are mica and matte in coloration.  The rim of the jar is fluted with 24 undulations!  I took a pic of the area under the rim to show how the clay is pushed up to create the fluted form.  This style of rim harkens back to the original name for this type of rim, the “raindrop rim”.   The rim is slipped with mica, as a contrast to the highly polished surfaces.  All of the hei-shi beads are hematite. Russell continues to revive historic San Ildefonso designs with his innovative style of pottery.  The bottom of the jar has the classic indention of traditional San Ildefonso water jars.  It’s exciting how Russell uses these historic elements to keep them alive on his contemporary pottery.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, ‘Russell”.

Russell Sanchez: Contemporizing the Pueblo Pottery Past