Alice Cling Navajo Highly Burnished Redware Vase with Fire Clouds [SOLD]

It is a wonderful treat to see pottery made by one of the large group of particularly talented Diné potters, Alice Cling.  The procedure is very similar to that of creating pueblo pottery.  One major difference is the use of piñon pitch in processing the pottery.   

The shape, coloring and finish of this vase are outstanding.  Graceful, it gently curves around its shoulders in tear drop formation and tapers down to a base that mirrors its opening in size and shape.  Deep autumnal reds swirl organically around and mix with the black of fire clouds.  The vessel is highly polished, with a faint memory of vertical motions in the polishing process, which is much less common than horizontal strokes. Piñon pitch has been used on the interior, and the exterior has been processed to perfection by the hands and intuition of a masterful artist.  

Alice Cling (1946-) makes exceptional pottery and is only recorded as a potter starting in her late 30s.  She digs her clay on Navajo land in the vicinity of Black Mesa.  The element that lends itself to such a stunning red finish is her special use of a slip high in iron.  After the slip has been applied the artist will polish before she fires and uses either river stones or popsicle sticks to do so.  Furthermore, it is the ash of juniper wood in the kiln fire that affixes to the pottery to create her marvelous use of fire clouds.

Simplicity of form and a soft surface sheen are the hallmarks of Alice Cling’s work.  She began to learn pottery making in 1966 when she returned to Shonto after graduating from high school. She developed a unique style incorporating simplicity of form and a soft surface sheen. Rose Williams is Alice's mother, and her sister is Susie Crank.

Condition: this redware vessel is in excellent condition. 

Provenance: this Alice Cling Navajo Highly Burnished Redware Vase with Fire Clouds is from a collection of a resident of California

Recommended Reading: NAVAJO POTTERY published in Plateau, volume 58, number 2, 1987

Relative Links: Diné of the Navajo Nation, Rose Williams, Susie Crank, Southwest Indian Pottery, Alice Williams Cling