Dolores Curran #31316

$900.00

This new dish is exquisite. Not completely flat like a plate, it has been formed to have some height, so it becomes an actual shallow dish. Dolores hand coiled, carved, painted, and incised with natural pigments and slips. She then fired it outdoors, using the traditional manner. It always amazes me to see what precision and detail work is executed by Dolores. It is truly remarkable work.

Dolores explained to me “The two etched symbols on the inside of the polished area represent birds. The center is a decorated bustle used in various dances with feathers. The Bustle has step, lightning, and mountain designs. In the center is a deep carved flower symbol.” The rim is polished to a smooth surface with more painting, which is Dolores’ rainbow interpretation. The back of the dish has Dolores’ symmetrical tail feathers surrounding her signature. What a delicate and fabulous little dish.

¾” high by 3” wide

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Dolores Curran

Santa Clara

Dolores Curran was born in 1954 into the Santa Clara Pueblo. Around 1977, she married Alvin Curran (deceased) and moved to San Juan. She made her first piece of pottery at age nine! Using the traditional methods of pottery making she learned from her grandmother, Dolores went on to develop her own style of contemporary hand polished, painted, and carved pottery. Known for her miniatures, she is one of the most precise etchers and painters we know. Dolores is a traditionalist. She breaks down the clumps of clay to form a fine powder form and hand mixes water with volcanic ash. Once the clay is mixed to a fine medium she then builds her pottery by using the coiling method. When the pots are dried, she then sands down the rough edges for a smooth finish. Then the painting process begins. Using paint from natural vegetation, she intricately designs her pots with numerous Pueblo symbols. Often, she uses the themes of avanyu clouds, feathers, bears, trees, rain, and mountains. She signs her work: Dolores Curran SCP. Her daughter, Ursula, and her sister, Geri Naranjo, are also talented potters, also specializing in miniatures.

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