Small Bowl with Fire Clouds and Rain Cloud Designs [SOLD]

Completed with a brilliant base of fire clouds, this is a remarkable bowl made by Diné potter Christine McHorse. It is modest in size, but has a beautiful shape and a marvelous color pattern. The fire clouds of the base open into a rich golden brown around the body of the bowl.

Just as striking as the coloration are the design patterns. Going around the rim of the bowl are incredible rain cloud symbols. Rain is a sacred phenomenon to the Diné people, and is the subject of many prayers and ceremonial practices. It is thought to bring comfort to the people, and it is essential in the growth and survival of plants, food crops, and people. Each rain cloud on this bowl is made with a dark brown, textured format and in a stepped layout, which is often how clouds are portrayed on indigenous pottery.

A stunning piece, this bowl represents the best of modern pottery of the Southwest, and is truly a talented work by Christine McHorse. It is signed underneath C. McHorse.

Christine Nofchissey McHorse (1948-2021) was an innovative potter who successfully combined the techniques and materials of traditional pottery with contemporary non-traditional forms and firing methods. Her unique vision developed out of the melding of three cultures—Diné, Pueblo, and Anglo. She often used micaceous clay taken from the mountains near Taos to hand build her vessels using the coil method.

Christine was Diné. She married into the Taos Pueblo heritage where she was introduced to the mica-speckled clay by her husband's grandmother, Lena Archuleta, who had a curio shop in Taos. Her first formal training began at the Institute of American Indian Arts, which she attended beginning at age 13, when the institute was still a high school. Christine's work reveals an ingenious combination of innovation and tradition, typical of the finest Navajo crafts.

Christine achieved beauty through simplicity of design. Beauty and simplicity of form were the basis for her work.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Small Bowl with Fire Clouds and Rain Cloud Designs are from a private collection

Recommended Reading: FREE SPIRIT: the New Native American Potter by Garth Clark. Publisher: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

TAGS: Navajo, pottery, Taos Pueblo, Navajo Folk Art-The People Speak, Christine Nofchissey McHorse