WOW!  This is an exceptional oval bowl by Christopher Youngblood.  The piece is coil-built and oval in shape. The ends are carved with large rainclouds that are polished red.  There are red polished raindrops along with micaceous lighting designs.  The longer sides of the jar each has a Big Horn Sheep.  Each sheep is carved into the clay and they are polished tan.  Tan is always the most difficult coloration to polish, as it is just water added to the surface of the clay and then stone polished.  The horns are incised and slipped with mica.  The mountains behind them are carved into the clay and slipped with a mauve-colored clay.  The eyes and mouth are highlighted with black clay.  Amazingly, this jar is carved and incised in terms of techniques.  There are four different colors of clay (making it polychrome) and there are micaceous, matte, and polished surfaces.  Few potters are willing to take the time and risks to create such complicated work! The bowl was also traditionally fired.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Chris Youngblood”.  This piece won “Best of Pottery” at the 2021 Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonials.

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