Special Value Offer: Miniature Pottery Masterpiece with Bear and Trout [SOLD]

Special Value Offer: the consignor of this magnificent seed pot jewel has suggested that we offer it in the new year at 20% less than the previous price of $2800 to a new price of $2240.

This small seed jar is as intricate as Moroccan mosaic tile work but even more detailed and miniaturized.  It is amazing to examine this seed jar with magnification and see the perfection in the application of all the very small triangles, dots, feathers, lines and other combinations of elements.  The upper half of the jar is completely covered in designs of this intricacy.  The bottom half of the design is the artist’s traditional application of the Navajo ceremonial basket design executed in dimensional structure, not just painted on the surface. The work is absolutely amazing.

Forty-two year old Wallace Nez has set the standard for contemporary Navajo pottery.  He produces pottery in the traditional manner by gathering and processing natural clay, coiling and building the pottery, scraping and sanding and finally carving and painting intricate designs on the surface.

According to the Heard Museum Gift Shop, Nez sold his first piece at the age of 12.  He won first place ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1999, 2000, and 2001 and Best of Division at the Museum of Northern Arizona Market Show in 1999.

Recommended Reading: 

Miniature Arts of the Southwest by Nancy Schiffer

The Pottery Jewels of Joseph Lonewolf by Jon Young

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a resident of California