Alice Cling, Navajo miniature jar
Alice Cling
1946-
Diné (Navajo)
Classification
Ceramic
Dimensions
1 3/4 x 2 x 2 in. (4.4 x 5.1 x 5.1 cm)
Accession Number
2016.35.30.187
Credit
Gift of John W. Brinley
Memo / Artist Statement
Navajo Pottery by Alice Cling
Navajo clay pottery, once regarded only as utilitarian ware, was collected by the few who appreciated its subtle yet exquisite colorations. under the skilled hands of Alice Cling, a talented young Navajo potter, it is rapidly achieving recognition as a unique expression of Native American artistry. Using just water and Native clay. Alice coils and then shapes pieces of both traditional and contemporary designs. The pots are then fired outside with cedar bark and wood. Once fired, a film of hot pinon tree pitch is applied to ensure longer wear and to emphasize the wonderfully warm colors achieved in the firing process.
(small, typed sheet included with purchase)
Navajo clay pottery, once regarded only as utilitarian ware, was collected by the few who appreciated its subtle yet exquisite colorations. under the skilled hands of Alice Cling, a talented young Navajo potter, it is rapidly achieving recognition as a unique expression of Native American artistry. Using just water and Native clay. Alice coils and then shapes pieces of both traditional and contemporary designs. The pots are then fired outside with cedar bark and wood. Once fired, a film of hot pinon tree pitch is applied to ensure longer wear and to emphasize the wonderfully warm colors achieved in the firing process.
(small, typed sheet included with purchase)
Biography
Alice was born in 1946 in Cow Springs and has lived the majority of her life in the area slightly west of Kayenta and north of Black Mesa. Alice learned the Navajo methods of making pottery from her mother, Rose Williams and her aunt, Grace Barlow. Alice started making pottery as a young girl but only became a well-known and recognized Navajo potter in the late 1980s. Alice follows specific methods when she is making her pottery: she digs clay from the Black Mesa area and then applies an iron-bearing slip to her dry clay forms and then polishes the surfaces using a river stone or a Popsicle stick. When the pieces are firing in the juniper wood-fueled pit, the ash that falls onto the pots mixes with the clay which produces fire clouds—a distinctive red-orange-purple-brown-black blush—on the surfaces. Alice then applies a thin coating of warm pinon pine pitch and polishes each pot to a soft luster. Besides the fire clouds and sparse raised rope or biyo’ around the shoulder or opening of a piece, her pieces don’t have any other decorations. Alice’s stunning coloration on her softly polished and lustered forms are her unique, outstanding contribution for the renaissance of Navajo pottery. Alice and her pottery has been included in several publications including Pottery by American Indian Women, the Legacy of Generations exhibition and book by Susan Peterson (1997) and at the National Museum of Women in Arts in Washington D.C.
http://www.andreafisherpottery.com/moreinfo.php?itemnumber=xxnvh5101&pueblo=Navajo&artist=Alice%20Cling&dimension=7%201/2%20in%20H%20by%206%201/2%20in%20Dia&price=550&dateborn=2015&signature=Alice%20Cling&condition=Excellent&images=5&description=Brown%20vase%20with%20fire%20clouds&saleprice=&spare1=&spare2=&spare3=&mini=xxnvh5101
https://www.wrightsgallery.com/artist.php?artistid=49
http://www.andreafisherpottery.com/moreinfo.php?itemnumber=xxnvh5101&pueblo=Navajo&artist=Alice%20Cling&dimension=7%201/2%20in%20H%20by%206%201/2%20in%20Dia&price=550&dateborn=2015&signature=Alice%20Cling&condition=Excellent&images=5&description=Brown%20vase%20with%20fire%20clouds&saleprice=&spare1=&spare2=&spare3=&mini=xxnvh5101
https://www.wrightsgallery.com/artist.php?artistid=49
Date of Bio
Inscription
A C
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