This is a striking red and buff canteen by Nancy Youngblood. The canteen is carved with a water serpent on one side and a shell on the opposite side.  Separating them are red polished handles and water waves.  The “waves” are the delicately carved ribs on the sides of the piece.  Note how they even extend down to the base.  The Avanyu is carved in a circular or medallion style.  The shell on the opposite side has 13 sections, each rounded and stone polished individually.  Both the shell and the avanyu are surrounded by a matte rainbow band. The remainder is polished and fired a deep red. Stunning!  The canteen has a lid which she also carved and she braided the strap. It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Youngblood”.

“The curved-down horn is the female avanyu.  I had seen shells when I went to the Caribbean and I thought that they would look spectacular if I could carve and polish them. I like to do the water serpent in a medallion instead of having it go around the piece. I think I just did that out of the blue one time and liked it”.  Nancy Youngblood, Spoken Through Clay