Youngblood, Christopher – Carved Jar with Bird and Cloud Swirls

3.25"w x 3"h

$ 2,200.00

Christopher Youngblood creates intricately carved vessels that reflect a perfect balance of matte and polished surfaces with intricately carved designs.  This jar is carved is deeply carved and highly polished making it a gem in clay!  The jar has a bird on one side.  It is intricately carved with each feather of the wings and tail delineated.  There are large swirling bands of melon ribs representing clouds.  The ribs are very deeply carved into the clay and highly polished.  There is one section that is rounded.  The background matte area is smooth and creates a perfect contrast for the polished imagery.  The polishing on the jar is exceptional, with a glass-like surface.  The piece was traditionally fired a deep black.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Chris Youngblood”.  I’m pleased that I have been working with Chris since 2010 when I wrote the first article on him for Native People’s magazine.  It is exciting to see how his work has progressed over the years and the awards for his pottery.  He was featured in the book, Spoken Through Clay, and continues to be one of the leading young potters working today.

Chris has said of his pottery:

“I’ve had generations of people before me who have had to learn the hard way. I’ve had that information given to me without having to go through all the struggles. But, I would say on the flip side, having someone so technically advanced as your teacher (Nancy Youngblood), let alone your mother, it’s hard. The expectations are a lot higher.  I’ve learned that now, I never think it’s done. I keep going until I cannot find anything I can refine or add to the piece. To achieve an ever-higher level of precision takes a lifetime. ’s not something you learn, it’s something you live.”  Christopher Youngblood, Spoken Through Clay