Russell Sanchez #52201

$6,200.00

Some of our favorite work from Russell is when he hand coils his free standing bear figures. Fired outdoors, this new grizzly bear is so striking in appearance. He has only made a few polychrome bears, and this one turned out magnificently. He fully polished the bear with white clay. This bear has an arched back, which is difficult to sculpt, as he has to have the arch meet with both sides of the back. Looking down from the top, it has both black and red slipped incised triangular areas, creating four distinct panels. Inset into those triangles are colorful high grade Sleeping Beauty turquoise stones. This turquoise is set in a starburst pattern, as well as another vertical line of six stones running from the top of the back, down to the legs. There are a total of 68 inset stones in the bear. Russell has to embed each stone carefully and patiently after the bear has been fired outdoors. Notice how the hematite embedded dots resemble the painted dots in the horizontal bands on each panel. Particularly noteworthy is how Russell has formed the legs. The legs are slipped with red and black clay. Carved in such a way that you can see through them gives the bear a realistic pose. So much work went into the forming, designing, incising, carving, polishing, and firing. This is a magnificent and complex bear figure.

4 1/4″ high by 6 1/2″ wide

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Russell Sanchez

San Ildefonso

Russell Sanchez was born at the San Ildefonso Pueblo. He has continued to live there all his life. Russell started making pottery at a very young age. If you could see his pots from when he was thirteen or so – you would be able to tell that a great talent was emerging! Russell was greatly influenced by his aunt, Rose Gonzales, and was futher encouraged by Dora Tse Pe. Like Russell, Dora is also a perfectionist. But Russell is really a self-taught potter. His incising, carving, and polishing techniques are all his own – developed and evolving over many years of hard work.

His work is widely accepted by serious collectors of some of the finest Native American pottery made today. He often introduces different materials into the clay while styaing within the traditional construction and firing techniques of pueblo pottery. Russell has won numerous awards and honors in juried shows every year since 1978. He has works in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute, the Millicent Rogers Museum, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (Santa Fe) and the Museum of Natural History (Los Angeles). It is an honor to work closely with Russell, and represent him in our gallery.

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