Yvonne Lucas Polychrome Pottery Jar with Mimbres Fish Designs [SOLD]

This wonderful polychrome pottery jar was made by Laguna Pueblo artist Yvonne Lucas. Adobe Gallery has only handled one piece by Yvonne Lucas in our past. After spending some time exploring this piece and learning about the artist, we hope to find even more of her creations. This is an extraordinarily well-crafted example of her pottery. It looks fresh and modern, but it was made using traditional materials and methods. It is evident that Yvonne Lucas has perfected her craft, as it would be impossible to find a flaw in this piece.

Yvonne Lucas used a crisp white slip as the backdrop for a pattern that repeats around the jar’s exterior. Traditional designs appear in black, forming four large oval-shaped patterns. A straight framing line down below forms a circle around the jar’s base. Up above, a different approach sends four straight lines across the shoulder, forming a diamond around the jar’s rim. A Mimbres-inspired fish design appears within each of the four oval-shaped patterns, linking this beautiful contemporary piece to ancient Indigenous artworks.

The bottom of the jar is signed Y. Lucas and marked with what is likely her clan symbol.

Yvonne Lucas was born in 1959. Her mother was Diné of the Navajo Nation and her father was from Laguna Pueblo. She grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. She made her first pottery in 1997 with the encouragement of her husband, notable Hopi potter Steve Lucas, and his aunt, the famous potter Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo. Yvonne is one the few Laguna Pueblo potters still using traditional firing methods. She has received numerous awards and accolades and placed works in notable museum collections.

Condition: excellent

Provenance: this Yvonne Lucas Polychrome Pottery Jar with Mimbres Fish Designs is from a private collection

Recommended Reading: American Indian Art Magazine, Spring 1998:17

TAGS: Navajo Nation, Laguna Pueblo, Steve Lucas, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo, Annie Healing Nampeyo, Hopi Puebloi, Southwest Indian Pottery, Contemporary Pottery, Yvonne Lucas, Laguna Pueblo Artist