Special Offer: Polychrome Pictorial Jar [SOLD]

Special Offer: This exquisite miniature jar by Dolores Curran has been reduced by 30% from its original posted price of $1150 to a new price of $805.

Dolores Curran is originally from Santa Clara, but has lived at San Juan Pueblo since her marriage a number of years ago. Her style of pottery is the style prevalent at San Juan Pueblo since the 1930s revival period.

Dolores works in a miniature scale, and has, since first making pottery at the age of 9. She does not maintain a record of designs because, as she states, she doesn’t want to repeat her designs. Each piece of pottery is unique. She creates the design for each piece as she works on it. Previous to this, her designs were of the Santa Clara style. Now she decorates her pottery with San Juan designs.

The designs on this small jar are a combination of painted designs and carved designs, although the carving is not the deep carving associated with Santa Clara and San Juan, but very shallow carving more akin to the San Juan incised ware.

The design element around the neck is that of the Avanyu (Water Serpent) rendered in negative technique over a polished red slip. Just below the polished red slip at the shoulder are cloud designs in matte tan slip, below which are zigzag lines enclosing matte red slip.

The main body of the vessel is slipped in matte tan as a background, over which are a number of beautifully decorated items: feathers, clouds, scrolls, stylized birds, yucca, rain, and, most importantly, a white horse.

The lower bands of decoration are applied over a polished red slip and include geometric elements, clouds, lightning and kiva steps.

This jar is magnificent. Each element was designed and painted to perfection. Dolores is a master at working in small scale. She works slowly and achieves perfection in every piece she makes.

She told me that this was her first attempt at making a horse. When she showed her daughter, Ursula, the results, she laughed and told her mom that it looked like a donkey, so Dolores re-worked it until she had a horse.